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THE FALL OF THE ALAMO 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO 



AN HISTORICAL DRAMA 

IN FOUR ACTS 
CONCLUDED BY AN EPILOGUE ENTITLED 

THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO 



BY 

PROFESSOR FRANCIS NONA 



Sunt hie etiani sua prcemia /audi. — Virgil's ^ne* 

\S,^ 1879. ^y 
NEW YORK V-C^F W«■■>^^*^^'^ 
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS*^-^^-^- '^' 
182 Fifth Avenue 

1879. 






Copyright by G. P, Putnam's Sons, 1879. 



TO COLONEL THOMAS W PEIRCE. 

OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 

this work is respectfully dedicated by 

THE AUTHOE 



DRAMATIS PERSONJS. 



Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Dictator of Mexico, and Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Mexican Army. 

Don Martin Prsfecto O^j-,— his brother-in-law, and General in the Mex- 
ican Army. 

Don Manuel Ferttandez Castrillon, — General in the Mexican Army. 

Don Francesco Dug ice, — Colonel in Mexican service. 

yua7i N. Alinonte, — Colonel and Aide-de-Camp to Santa Anna. 

John Davis Bradburn, — A native of Tennessee, who, having entered 
the Mexican service, commanded the Fort 
of Anahuac in the year 1S32. 

Elsie Bradburn, — his Daughter. 

William B. Travis, — A resident of Anahuac in the year 1832, and 
Commander of the Texan Volunteers at the 
Alamo in the year 1836. 

James A. Travis, — his brother, seventeen years old. 

Colonel David Crockett, — Hunter, Scout, Congressman, and Champion 
for Texan liberty. 

Colonel yames Boiuie, 

Major Evans, 

Captain Kimble, 

Lieutenant Z'/t-/&/«j'6'«,— Commanders of Texan Volunteers under Wm. 
B. Travis. 

Colonel y. B. Bonham, — Colonel of Texan Volunteers. 

Rev. W. P. Smith, — Chaplain of the Texan Volunteers at the Alamo. 

6V2/;/«t'/ //fwi'/'c?;/,— Commander-in-Chief of the Texan Army at the San 
Jacinto. 

Edivard Burleson, — Colonel in the Texan Army. 

Frank W, yohnstoii, — Colonel of Texan Volunteers. 

yohn W. Smith, — called Deaf Smith, scout to General Houston. 

yohn Austin, 

Wm. y. Russell. 

Wm. H. yack, — Natives of the United States, residing in Texas in the 
year 1832. 



VI DRAMATIS PERSONS. 



Don Lorenzo Zavala^ — Texan Patriot. 

S. B. Patcho, — Captain in Mexican service, stationed at Anahuac. 
Jose Prado, — Servant to Santa Anna. 

A Surgeon. — A Jailer.— American Colonists, residing in Texas. — Texan 

Volunteers. — Mexican Soldiers. 



SCENE. 

Fhst Act : Partly at Velasco, partly at Anahuac, in the year 1832. 
Secottd, Third and Fourtli Acts : In and around the Alamo, in I'^ebruary 

and March, 1836. 
Epilogue : At the San Jacinto River, April 21, 1836. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



ACT FIRST. 
Scene I. 



Colonists of Stephen Austin s American Colony at Bra- 
zoria {situated near Fort Velasco) are seen engaged 
at work in the fields. At a given signal they assem- 
ble in the centre of the stage, John Austin and Wm. 
J. Russell occupying a conspicuous place among them. 

John Austin. 
Again the pleasant shades of eve descend 
And counsel us to close this day's account. 
So let us go and homeward wend our steps ; 
And as in countries far across the main 
The vesper-bell tolls through the mellow air 
Of eventide the thankful offerings 
Of dying day, — so we, our labors done, 
Our thoughts abstracted from our work's concern, 
Will let our joyful feelings' gratitude 
Ring through our hearts, while homeward we proceed. 
A sanctuary of God, but lately sprung 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



From His creating hand, thus seem to me 
These virgin-fields, so fresh, so still, so grand 
Where nearer wafts His breath into my heart, 
Where clearer speaks His presence to my mind, 
Where louder peals His voice into my ear. 
Here, as each day succeeds its predecessor, 
It leaves engraven on my memory 
The luxury of every breath I drew, 
The spell of every gaze I cast about, 
Withal a soul-felt record of delight. 
Behold this emerald sea of waving meads, 
Hedged round by fields aglow with gaudy flowers 
Which, swelling to the dim horizon's brink, 
By roseate tints blend earth and evening-sky. 
While through the clear, transparent atmosphere 
Those forest-groves, like as Elysian Isles, 
Seem slowly sailing o'er the grassy main 
In golden-green and amber-colored light. 
Fair Italy may boast her sunny clime, 
Greece may extol her azure-sky's abyss. 
The Rhine parade his valley's loveliness, — 
They cannot match this blessed Texan land 
Which every day grows dearer to my heart. 

Wm. J. Russell. 
Thou art quite right, my friend ; I, too, enjoy 
This happy climate's grateful benefits. 
Marked out, meseems, for Labor's paradise. 
With golden harvests here the friendly ground 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Amply rewards the yeoman's easy toil, 

Whose sweating brow the ocean breezes fan, 

Whose worn-out strength the cooling nights restore. 

If anywhere upon this earthly round 

Kind Nature meant to found a temple-shrine 

For liberty, her sister, it is here, — 

It is this land she thus has blest and hallowed. 

Why now must man's ambitious avarice 

Come here to desecrate this sanctuary 

By discord, hatred and impassionate strife ? 

Yet, it is so, and hence the fearful thought, 

That on some future day the bitter choice 

Will dawn on us, to leave these happy shores. 

Or else to bow our necks to tyranny. 

Stands like a night-mare's dread my mind before. 

And galls with care my every moment's joy. 

Nor are the coming tempest's signs obscure : 

Our cherished constitution overthrown, — 

Our chartered rights repealed or trodden down, — 

The frowning forts the Mexicans have built 

Here at Velasco and Tenoxtitlan, 

At Nacogdoches and at Anahuac, 

Not to relate their officers' and soldiers' 

Offences 'gainst our property and lives, — 

All these point clearly to their base designs, 

Which, even now, they hardly care to hide. 

Austin.- 
Keep cheerful, friend ! the threatening thunder storm 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



May yet pass by as harmless as the Norther 
That will at times sweep over our domain, 
And only tends to purify the air. 
E'en now the better class of Mexicans 
Who honestly aspire their country's weal 
And wish to see her rise o'er party-strife, 
Sustain our patient course ; and who can tell, 
If not, as quickly as the tide recedes, 
The ruling faction in that changeful Stite, 
To-morrow e'en, may weaken and succumb ? 

Russell. 

I cannot share thy faith in Mexicans ; 

Save but a few enlightened of their people, 

They all behold with eyes of livid envy 

Our industry and our prosperity. 

To see this land beneath our stalwart arms 

Bloom like a rose, to see our flocks increase. 

To see our towns alive with trade and craft, 

Our bays and streams with sail, our roads with teams, 

Excites their selfishness and avarice. 

Therefore it matters not what faction rules : 

Our lands and rights will ever be endangered. 

Austin. 

What if they are ? The higher we esteem them. 
Men only prize what they have gained through peril. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Russell. 
An insecure possession is no blessing- 
It drains our strength, exhausts our energy. 

Austin. 
What is secure on earth ? We only can 
Fulfil our duty, leave the rest to God. 

Russell. 
Man acts and God assists, yet here we must 
Leave all to God, as we can nought accomplish. 

Austin 

Can we not seize our trusty swords and fight 
And die like men, if nothing else avails ? 

Russell. 
'Twere madness to expect, that single-handed 
Or with a few thou couldst oppose nine millions. 

Austin. 
Not single-handed, not a few, my friend ! 
Three thousand of our countrymen we count 
In this domain, each equal to ten thousands 
Of Mexicans through strength of will and hope, 
Through love of freedom and through trust in God. 
Here round us stand our countrymen in silence, 
Which louder yet than futile words proclaims 
The stout resolve that thrills their gallant hearts. 
Ask each, if he no sooner gave his blcod, 



THE FALL OF THE AL.AMO. 



His life, his all, ere he agrees to part 
With one iota of his ' Bill of Rights !' 

A Colonist. 

'Tis, Squire, as thou hast said. When we behold 

Our dearest prize, our liberty, assailed, 

We'll know full well, how to defend, to guard it. 

All. 

Aye, aye, we shall. 

Russell. 

Dear friends ! forgive if I 
Could doubt your courage even for a moment ; 
My bosom throbs in harmony to yours. 
And long ago I nursed the self-same thoughts, 
Though 1 forbade my lips to utter them 
From delicate regard for you who have 
Wives, children, homesteads, all of whom you risk. 

Begone then, cheerless scruples, timid faith ! 
Where so inspired brave hearts thy cause embrace, 
Where so resolved stout arms contest for thee, 
Thou need not tremble, holy Liberty ! 
The ocean's wrath may beat against these shores, 
The tempest's fury rave against our doors, 
The tyrant's myrmidons o'erflow this land, — 
Yet ever firm and safe thy fane will stand. 



THE FA LI OF THE ALAMO. 



Austin. 
Tis well for us to have meanwhile exchanged 
Our mutual thoughts, e'en though the despot's grain 
He here has sown, is not yet ripe for harvest. 
Hence let us wait and watch, ere we proceed 
To force and arms ; for alway these remain 
A last resort, e'en in a righteous cause. — 
But see that horseman coming toward us 
In anxious haste, with loosened rein ; his steed 
Is decked with foam and blood on flank and bit. 
Who can he be ? 'Tis Jack ! What may he bring ? 
\_Somc colonists go to meet Jack, and to lead him before 
the men assembled?^ 

SCENE II. 

Enters Wm. H. Jack, who is cordially greeted by all 
present, 
Austin. 
Both joy and grief are apt to wing our feet ; 
Which of the two, friend Jack, has urged thy haste ? 

Jack. 
Oh ! would I were Joy's fleeting messenger ! 
But as it is, no mission is so sad 
As mine, since it announces misery 
For every homestead in the land ; 'tis — War ' 

Austin. 
It cannot be ! Speak plainly, friend ! 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Jack. 

So list ! 
Scarce had the mail from Vera Cruz arrived 
At Fortress Anahuac yestereve 
When Colonel Bradburn, its commander, sent 
A squad of soldiers to the town, who seized 
My brother Patrick Jack and William Travis 
And Munroe Edwards, took them to the fort, 
And without hearing, without trial locked 
Each separately into a prison-cell. 

Russell. 
Has Colonel Bradburn a sufficient cause 
To warrant this unusual proceeding .? 

Jack. 
His only warrant is that stale excuse 
Of servile knaves : his duty to obey 
His master's order, whether right or wrong. 

Russell. 
But is it proven he has received such order ? 

Jack. 
He has, of which this document bears witness. 
Which he transmitted unto Nacogdoches 
E'en yestereve through one of his couriers, 
Though intercepted by our vigilance 
He and his letter never reached that place. 
. \^He hands the letter to Austin?^ 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Austin. 
\Rcads aloud.'] 
To the commanders of the garrisons 
In every Texan fort and post our greeting : 
Whereas we are most credibly informed, 
That every day the spirit of defiance 
'Gainst our authority grows rampant more 
Among your colonists to whom we gave 
The privilege of settling on our lands, — 
You are advised, to use your utmost power, 
That the rebellious spirit may be curbed, 
To this effect imprison every person 
Whose discontent is shown in writ or word 
And check the influx from the United States. 
As has the statute never been repealed 
Which says, that persons of our Catholic Faith 
Alone can hold positions and estates 
In Mexico, it is herewith revived. 

Don Juan Bustamente, President. 

The colonists, in utter astonishment, rettmin silent for 
awhile j then break forth into almost simultaneous 
expressions of indignation. 

A Colonist. 
Our friends imprisoned without law or cause ! 

Another. 
Our speech o'erawed, our liberties assailed I 



lO THE FALL OF THE AL.AMO. 

A Third. 
Our faith attacked, our property endangered ! 

A Fourth. 
We cannot, will not bear it ! 

All. 

We must fight. 
Jack. 

Not to forestall your brave decision, friends, 

I have till now withheld from you the knowledge 

Of the resolve, to which your countrymen 

At Nacogdoches and at Anahuac, 

Imbued like you with deepest indignation. 

Have come : it is, to storm, this very night, 

The forts which there the Mexicans have raised. 

Austin. 

What, friends, is then your wish, that here be done ? 

A Colonist. 
Captain ! I move, that following the example 
Set by our countrymen, we storm to-night 
The Fort Velasco. 

Another. 

I support that motion. 
Austin. 
'Tis moved and seconded, that we to-night 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. II 

Attack and storm the fortress at Velasco. 
Who are in favor of the motion ? 

All. 

Aye. 

Austin. 

Who vote against it 1 None ? The motion is carried. 

\A solemn silence ^t^ 

Russell. 

[ With inspiration^ 

As gathered in their azure ocean's sight 

The noble Greeks hurled back the despot's threat, — 

As at their crystal glaciers' feet, by night, 

To break their yoke, the gallant Switzers met, — 

As our forefathers on the common's green 

Assembled to protest 'gainst wrongs of power, — 

So we amid our prairie-evening scene 

Uplift our hands at this inspiring hour, 

To call to witness God in Heaven above, 

That not our will, but sorest need alone 

Calls us to arms, to shield what most we love. 

Our faith, our rights, the hearth and home we own. 

He who has freed the others through His hand 

Will not withhold His aid from this, our land. 

• 

Austin. 

Time presses, friends ! so let us homeward haste, 



12 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Prepare our arms, call out our countrymen, 

And gather at my door two hours from now, 

To storm the fort, ^\^ien night has spread her shade. 

Scene III. 

A gloomy vault in the Fort of Anahuac, lighted by one sin- 
gle window near the ceiling. Opposite to the side 
which contains the windoiu, is an adjoining dungeon^ 
from which JVm. B. Travis steps forth, absorbed in 
reverie. 



In prison ! Ha ! why startles me this name 

All of a sudden, which like other words 

Of daily speech I hitherto pronounced 

Unmoved, unstirred, scarce thinking of its import ? 

Why now rebels my inmost soul against 

This sound, as though it were a mournful dirge ? 

Why dreads my foot to step upon this floor 

That, cold and stern, sends shudders through my frame ? 

Why sinks my head involuntarily 

Betwixt my shoulders, wishing there to hide 

Against this frowning ceiling's pressing weight? 

Why shrinks my hand to touch these circling walls 

That slowly, stealthily, with every moment 

Seem drawing, creeping closer up to me ? ^ 

Because here is the sum of human horrors, 

The acme of distress, a living grave, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



The thought of which appals the hero's courage, 

And pales still more the coward's fear-blanched cheek. 

\^He steps on a chair standing beneath the grated window 

and looks without?^ 
In prison ! ah ! and beams not there the sun 
Which our Creator poised upon the arch 
Of heaven to shine alike on good and bad, — 
The sun through which all beings live and thrive, 
To which the tiniest blossom turns its eye, 
Without which Heart and Nature grow a waste ? 
And spread not there " the gardens of the desert,' 
The swelling prairies, quick with life and motion, 
And farther off, near the horizon's brink, 
The glassy main, as free and wide as they, 
To whose expanse and breeze-pervaded air 
Man's spirit feels a kindred intimate, 
When over them he strides or sails away ? 
There goes the daring hunter with elastic step 
And hopeful breast, to lurk, to spring, to conquer ; 
There sails the buoyant mariner to brave 
The tempest's rage, to venture and explore ; 
There rides the thoughtful merchant on his route 
To bargain and to risk and win, — all, all 
With bosoms thrilled by wishes and desires 
Which to pursue and gain forms their delight. 

\^He steps down?^ 
In prison ! ah ! and what, if it enshrines 
The height of sorrow, the abyss of woe.'' 



14 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



It is as well the soil for human greatness, 
The atmosphere of highest, noblest virtue. 
Its solitude has nursed the poet's fancy, 
The martyr's faith, the hero's stout resolve, 
And Socrates, St. Paul and Galileo 
Found here the source of their immortal thoughts. 
When Truth and Courage thrill the bosom's cells, 
When Love of God distends the heart's confines. 
The gates give way, the circling walls are rent, 
The unchecked spirit vaults the frail barrier, 
And like an eagle, free and high in air. 
It soars aloft to reach the source of Light. 

In prison ! ah ! and bear I not as well 

A precious, priceless germ within my breast 

That I may propagate and fondly cherish 

Beneath this thought-inspiring atmosphere. 

Till it attain a higher, fuller growth, — 

The conscious, deep, all-sacrificing love 

For this, my country, which e'en now has spread 

A tangled network through my veins and feelings ? 

As fairest blooms the lovely hyacinth 

That charms our eye in winter's frosty clime. 

When nursed beneath the tepid cellar-air, 

So also my ideal shall germinate 

From here to joy my winter through its bloom. 

This prison — Heaven record my vow — shall be 
The place of birth of Texan Liberty. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1 5 



Scene IV. 

Elsie Bradlfiirn, admitted by the jailer through the door 
in the rear^ has entered during Travis' last words 
ivhich she has overheard^ and stands for a moment 
quietly behitid him. 

Travis. 
^Turning and perceiving Elsie ^ who sinks into his arnis^ 

What ? Elsie, thou ? 
Elsie. 

My Travis ! thou in prison 
Unjustly, most unworthily confined ! 
Than whom none else delights so much in sunshine, 
In balmy air, in freedom from restraint. 
Thou canst not live beneath this damp-cold vault, 
But wilt fall sick, and as the prairie-flower. 
Transferred into a sunless room, will fade, 
So thou canst not endure this cruel doom. 

Travis. 

Grieve not, beloved ! since I hold thee now. 

This dungeon seems a paradise to me ! 

Behold these walls ! they bloom like rosy bowe;rs ; 

This ceiling spreads a verdant canopy 

Through which the sun, the sun of Love, sends in 

His warming beams into my gladdened heart. 

But tell, how couldst thou gain access to me ? 



1 6 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Elsie. 

Oh, Travis ! my unmaidenlike transgression, 
In what a light must it appear to thee ? 

Travis. 

Unmaidenlike, thou say est ! Ah, as high 

As are the heavens above the earth, as wide 

As lies the East divided from the West. 

So is thy step from impropriety. 

'Tis true, the charm of gentle womanhood 

Blooms in the even path of sweet retirement. 

In the pursuit of calm domestic life 

O'er which, as Springtime strews the earth wiih flowers, 

She sheds a grace of loveliness and peace. 

And wantonly to overstep these bounds. 

By nature set, is to destroy her balance. 

But when the hand of stark Necessity 

Has broken in upon a woman's fate 

And threats to tap her feeling's holy fount. 

When staking, offering up her all for one. 

When disregarding usage, scorn and power. 

Acknowledging no law save this : her love, — 

At last she rises like an earth-born Titan 

And irresistibly, victoriously 

Clears every obstacle that blocks her way. 

She adds the highest earthly glory then, 

A heroine's halo, to her womanly crown. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. I 7 

Elsie. 

Ah ! were I free to soar that lofty flight 

To which my spirit's impulse leads me on ! 

Alas ! so soon I try to rise, I feel 

The sinews of my pinions cut in twain 

Through fatal powers which hold me to the ground. 

Thou seest my father, an American, 

Deaf to his better nature's inward voice, 

Blind to the sad results of his career, 

Employed in deep-disgraceful vassalage 

To tyranny, whose orders he obeys 

Implicitly with servile doggedness, 

As if to gain his master's sneering praise 

Made up his glory's highest aspiration. 

To drown his bosom's stern reproof, to kill 

His honor's glimmering spark, he has en wrapt 

His reason with the ice of self-made doctrines 

Which, ah ! my tears have tried in vain to melt, 

And woven round him a net of sophistry 

Through which my prayers not yet could penetrate. 

Oh, it is hard, when filial lips which ought 

To overflow with tender reverence, 

Must breathe reproach alone and accusation 

'Gainst one whom fain we would respect and worship. 

Travis. 

Interpret not my hesitating counsel 
I give thee now, as cruel egotism ! 



1 8 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

As oft to save a life by wounds imperiled 

A surgeon hazards some unusual cure, 

So also on the battle-field of Life 

A false position and a wayward course 

May oft be righted by a daring step 

Which in the eyes of men may meet with censure, 

But gains its palm before the eye of God. 

Withdraw from here a while, if still thy father 

Persists to be the tyrant's ready tool. 

And from the distance lure him on to thee 

By frequent proofs of unchanged filial love. 

He soon will feel the utter loneliness 

That yawns around him here, the aimlessness 

Of his career, and yearning to rejoin 

The only heart that on this earthly round 

Still beats for him, he will depart from here. 

The first step which he takes to reach the ship 

That carries him to thee, will disentangle 

The Gordian Knot of his embarrassment. 

Elsie. 

It cannot be ! A sacred vow has chained 

My destiny forever to his lot. 

My mother, well foreseeing at her death 

The threat'ning crisis which must overtake him 

Inevitably as wrongs of heart or mind 

Draw after them remorse and punishment, — 

Exacted from my lips this oath, that never 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



I would desert my father's side, as long 

As he continues in this baneful service, 

But watch, a guardian angel, over him, 

Till I behold his life-ship safely anchored 

Upon the roadstead of his native land. 

Alas ! since then his headstrong will has lashed 

To still more furious haste and maddened run 

The fiery steeds that draw his chariot 

Which neither tears nor prayers of mine could stay 

Instead of hovering o'er his fate-doomed path 

As friendly and inspiring genius, — 

I self behold me dragged resistlessly 

With every moment farther from the start, 

Where left behind me lies the blooming wreath 

Of all my fondest hope and happiness ; 

Where stand my friends in sorrow o'er my fate. 

But impotent to check my doomed career. 

So wretched must the exile feel, who leaning 

Against the vessel's bord, that bears him 'way 

Sees more and more his native country's coast 

Fade out of sight, till it is gone for ever. 

Travis. 

Ah ! it is so ! and clearly now I see. 
How by my course I added to thy woe. 
The attitude, which I have here assumed, 
Of bold defiance to thy father's will 
Must even more embitter him and cause 



20 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Still greater grief to thee. This must be changed. 
I will resign my duties here, when freed, 
And leave this country, elsewhere to await 
Our union under fairer auspices. 

Elsie. 

And thinkest thou so mean of me, thy maiden, 

That I would cheer this plan by my assent, 

Which, if pursued, at once would controvert 

The glorious mission thou hast set before thee : 

To free this country from the tyrant's yoke ? 

No, no ! thou only spakest so to try me, 

To test my spirit's metal, if it were 

Not all too far below thy lofty standard. 

Behold ! when entering here a while ago, 

I overheard thy vow, sent from a spot 

Whose very air, as mildew blights the flowers, 

Is death to hope and courage, then meseemed 

I saw a radiant halo o'er thy head 

Through which in fiery letters blazed the words : 

" His patriotism will realize his vow !" 

Should I then meanly, selfishly divert 

Thy manly race, bold as the torrent's sweep, 

Into the path of common-place stagnation ? 

Should I, short-sighted, narrow-minded, wrest 

The palm of fame and victory from thee ? 

Should I, in fear about my happiness, 

For ever blast the hopes of many thousands ? 



THE FALL OF THE AL.AMO. 2 1 

No, Travis, no ! when beams thy name resplendent 

Upon the heaven of glory and renown, 

May then with it the woeful history 

Of my resigning sacrifice be blent 

To serve as proof, that for her country's freedom 

A Texan maiden deems no price too high. 

Travis. 

Now art thou wholly as I wished to find thee ! 
Oh, happy I ! since for me beats and throbs 
The noblest heart that ever dwelt in woman ! 
But think, beloved ! can no way be found 
To spare from thee this woeful suicide 
Of every hope and earthly joy, whom thus 
Resigningly thou lay'st on Freedom's altar ? 

Elsie. 

If there exists a way, it lies with us. 

But not with thee ; thy cause is great and just, 

And must remain so, like the polar-star's 

Unaltered station on the starlit sky. 

So it is we^ it is my father's course 

That must be changed, if all shall yet be well. 

That would restore thy freedom at a time 

When needs this land thy arm and counsel most ; 

That would enroll with active sympathy 

His heart and mine upon the patriot's side ; 

That^ that alone, if Heaven should will it so. 



2 2 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Would blend our lives, as now our hearts are'blended. 

Hence I will go and try once more to move him 

By fervid prayer to which I mean to add 

My strongest argument, my treasured secret, 

The sweet confession of my love for thee. 

Hence pray, that He, who melts the earth in fire 

May touch my father's bosom and inspire 

My speech to break the rigor of his heart. 

Beloved, fare thee well ! I must depart. 

^Travis accouipanies Elsie to the door in the rear, through 

which she leaves the prison. This done., he himself 

enters the chamber at the side^ 



Scene V. 

Col. Bradburns room in the Fort of Anahuac. Col. 
Bradburn stands near a table in the centre of the 
room, holding a letter in his hand. 

" One hundred thousand dollars in the bank 
Of Vera Cruz inscribed to thy account!" 
My agent writes — At last I have attained 
My life-work's goal and crown ; the longed-for day 
Whose coming joy through all these weary years 
Has warmed my life, that day has now arrived. 
Why then so gloomy and cast down, my heart ? 
Alas ! the wealth I wrung from unkind Fortune 
By dint of patience and devoted service, 



THE FALL OF TILE ALAMO. 23 

E'en now her cruel hand withholds from me, 

And by a treacherous breach of confidence 

She asks me to perform some overwork, 

Before I can obtain my well-earned fee. 

For the intention to resign my post. 

So soon the prize should be within my reach, 

I must defer in face of this revolt 

Which hydra-like lifts its defiant head 

Before my very eye-sight in this land. 

To leave it now in this disordered state, 

To seize my wealth, to flee with it abroad, 

Is out of question ; the suspecting eye 

Of Despotism would soon detect my motive 

And find in it a good pretense to lay 

His grasping hand upon my property. 

Was it a wicked spirit's tempting voice 

That seven months ago, when ninety-thousand 

Were not enough for me, has shut and deafened 

My ear and heart to Elsie's tearful prayers ? 

So true it is, that Fortune's envious powers. 

In their dislike to man's self-shapen course, 

W^ill quietly oft allow him to approach 

His prize, when lo ! 't is wrested from his hand. 

But courage, Bradburn ! why these mournful thoughts, 

When not a cloud yet darkens thy horizon ? 

Proceed to work, e'en though the task be weary, 

And see how it may swiftest be accomplished ! 

\^He meditates a brief while, then eAclai/ns exiiltingly .•] 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



E'en now I have it ; yea ! I found the way ! 

The obstacle that keeps me from my prize 

Shall be the very bridge, o'er which I reach it. 

I will hand o'er to the authorities 

Of Mexico for judgment and garotte 

The captured leaders of this base revolt, 

That Jack, that Travis and that Edwards, 

Which clearly will attest my loyalty, 

Will call me hence for presence at the trial, 

And pave withal a way for my retirement ! — 

Retirement ! happy thought ! sweet as the balm 

Of eventide upon a sultry day, 

When for the dismal gusts of wintery care 

The slumberous peace of quiet summer-eve 

Shall permeate my bosom's corridors, 

As swells an organ's long-drawn harmony 

Through a majestic minster's colonnades, — 

When gratefully, as sees the husbandman 

His harvest-wagon's last return, I shall 

Enjoy in ease my labor's benefits, — 

Wlien my old age shall be prolonged and cheered 

By her, for whom alone I took on me 

These mounts of care, these centuries of sorrow, 

My daughter Elsie. 

\He turns abniptly with a profound horror. ] 
Who is here ? \unth astonishment^ No one ? 
And yet meseemed, as if a stealthy step 
Had crept behind me and an ice-cold hand 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 2$ 



Had lightly tapped my shoulder, 

[ S/niiing embarrassedly. ] 
j It was nought, 

Nought save perhaps a draught, an ocean-breeze. 
1*11 close the window ! 

\In the act of shutting it he looks 7uithoHt.\ 
Ha ! what means that flash 
Of sunny light, like a reflex of arms ? 
And moves not there a band of weaponed men. 
In far off distance o'er the hazy plain ? 

\Scizing a telescope^ he surveys the neighborhood?^ 
Once more my fancy has belied my eye ; 
It is a forest-isle I so mistook 
That mute and still lies on the prairie's breast. 
Still, as precaution is the sire of wisdom, 
I'll go and send my cavalry to scour 
The country o'er, and order to enforce 
The guards upon the walls and at the gates. 

Scene VI. 
When Bradburn goes toward the door., Elsie enters. 

Elsie. 
My father, stay ! grant me a moment's hearing ! 

Bradburn. 
Defer, I pray, till later thy request ; 
For urgent business claims my presence elsewhere. 



26 THE FALL OF TLIE ALAMO. 



Elsie. 

^Clinging to him.^ 
I must not, can not ! see as Jacob spake, 
As writes the Book : " I will not let thee go, 
Except thou bless me !" even so I say ! 

Bradburn. 

And what, I ask, makes thy demand so pressing ? 

What is its purport ? matters newly risen. 

Or merely a rehearsal of the old ? 

Were it the last, my time might well be spared. 

Elsie. 

And has not yet a voice within thy breast 

x\ spark of light before thy mind arisen, 

That tell thee where thy way must lead thee to ? 

A wand'rer, unacquainted with the road 

Thou chosest one, that seemed, — but only seemed, 

A safe and worthy way to travel on ; 

Thy choice was wrong, in judgment, not in heart. 

But, — when thine every step thou onward takest 

Shows thee thy error and reveals to thee 

What dread abysses lie thy path beside, 

Which deepening, yawning, more and more, invade 

Its breath and menace its continuance, — 

When from afar a kindly warning voice, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 2/ 

Thrilled by the truest prophecy of love, 
Beseeches thee, implores thee, to retract 
Thy wayward steps, and thou^ thou hearest not,- — 
Thy error's slight offence becomes — a crime ! 

Bradburn. 
Tut, tut, my child ! I cannot see, why now 
My way is all at once so dangerous, 
So criminal, as when I entered it. 
The land we live in, its society. 
Its kind relations to the neighboring states. 
Are they not quite the same as formerly ? 

Elsie. 
My father, they are not, for if they were 
Thou wouldst not hear thy daughter's pleading voice. 
When broke the Mexicans the Spanish yoke. 
Ten years ago, then for some time indeed, 
A free and lofty spirit thrilled the race. 
Well worthy of our countrymen's support. 
But ah ! too soon the wakened flame died out. 
Too soon they bowed to thraldom worse than erst, 
Too soon they proved the axiom's truth, that people, 
Unable to sustain by strength of arm and mind 
Their freedom, merit not its blessed boons. 
When priest-craft took the reins of government 
Into its hands, when civil feuds arose. 
And from their whirpools selfish autocrats 
Sprung up as mushrooms will from rotten soil, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Already then thy time was to resign. 

But thou didst not, and now a vengeful fate, 

Or, much I fear, thy master's base designs 

Have placed thee, where a new embarrassment, 

Still more a source of danger, joins thy others. 

Thou shalt — such is thy stern superior's will — 

Oppress the colonists, thy countrymen, 

Shalt act the tyrant's part to those whose hearts, 

As thine should do, detest that very name, 

And shalt oppose the will of Providence, 

Which here through them intends to found a state, 

As free and glorious as their native Union. 

Against such odds thy might cannot prevail. 

E'en though thine army numbered many millions ; 

Thou must succumb, with — what is worst — disgrace. 

Bradburn. 
Who gave thee such ideas ? To found a state 
With such materials as they here exist ? 
Such thoughts dwell only on the lips and brains 
Of men who in disorder and rebellion 
Expect to reap the harvest of their schemes. 
Of demagogues, such as that William Travis, 
That Patrick Jack, that Munroe Edwards are. 

Elsie. 
Nought is beknown to me of Jack or Edwards, 
Though people tell me they are worthy men ; 
\Fervidly^ 



THE FALL OF THE ALA'MO. 



But William Travis, father, I feel bound 
With all that is within me to defend. 

Bradburn. 
And knowest thou, my daughter, him so well ? 

Elsie. 
That thou wilt lightly from my pleading tell. 
I claim for Travis no unusual dower ; 
No talent's gift, no learned wisdom's power, 
No eloquence, no spell of wit are his. 
But what he owns in fullest scope, is this : 
An honest heart within a noble breast, 
A harmony of truth that lies exprest 
O'er soul and body, over thought and deed. 
Whose blended charm the blindest eye can read. 
His gait and stature, manly and erect, 
A character of moral strength reflect ; 
His eye, clear as the sapphire firmament, 
Bespeaks his bosom's tender sentiment. 
His vaulted brow betokens ardent zeal 
For Mankind's highest interest and weal, 
And all these virtues, — wouldst thou know, from wdience 
They spring ? — it is his faith in Providence ! 

Bradburn. 
I cannot err, — Elsie ! thou lovest him ! 

Elsie. 
Father, I do ! My heart resistlessly 



30 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Went out to him as if by witchery. 
Though he be far, I fancy, that his eye 
Upon me casts its glances from on high ; 
His voice rings in my ear both day and night, 
His figure ever stands before my sight, 
Of him I think, when I my vigils keep. 
Of him I dream, when I am wrapt in sleep. 

Bradburn. 
And knows he, pray, thy ardent love for him .? 

Elsie. 

Why should he not ? when this life's highest weal, 
This heaven on earth, when all I am and feel 
Are due to him, when through his magic word 
My latent powers are from their slumber stirred ; 
When through the inspiration from his soul 
My spirit wings its flight to higher goal. 
When the possession of my treasured prize 
Makes hundredfold my self-esteem arise — 
O, father, father ! come what may, this love 
Will be my happiness here and above. 

Bradburn. 

My child ! the dreams of youthful age are nought 

But the reflection of its rosy cheeks ; 

These gone, the dreams are gone, which proves too well 

Their fleeting worth, their idle vanity. 

A better bottom than their quicksand is 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Required to lay a firm foundation wall 
Whereon to frame a happy life ; such ground, 
Is wealth, is rank, are family connections. 
These once obtained, their benefits secured. 
Life's other Graces follow in their wake. 
The first two are e'en now in my possession ; 
Through prudent husbandry and skilful trade 
I have amassed a fortune, while my title, 
Well-earned in service, will command respect. 
So it is caste alone, which I still need, 
That shall wipe out my offspring's low descent 
And link my name with races of renown. 
For it must be a glorious consciousness 
To trace one's lineage upward on the rounds 
Of generations to the grayest age. 
This latter to secure depends on thee. 
Depends upon thy alliance with the scion 
Of some old house whom thy accomplishments, 
Thy wealth, thy father's rank will easily 
Secure for thee. Therefore it is my plan : 
That we return to the United States, 
My native country, as it was thy mother's, 
There settle down in ease and affluence, 
And self-contented, envied and respected. 
Ascend the smooth and level road that leads 
Into the hermitage of our old age. 

Elsie. 
How long ere thou wilt enter on this journey ? 



32 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Bradburn. 
So soon I have suppressed this insurrection. 

Elsie. 

Then wilt thou never see thy plan fulfilled, 
And it is best so, as thy gross injustice 
Were certain to react on thee as curse 
Whose magnitude my spirit dreads to fathom. 
Far better in both nature and result 
Would be the plan which I have in my mind. 

Bradburn. 

Make proof then of thy ingenuity ! 

Elsie. 

Espouse the cause of Texas with the zeal 
I'hou hitherto hast squandered on her tyrants 
Enroll thee as the patriots' stoutest friend 
As till to-day thou wast their foremost foe ; 
Help to restore this land to Liberty 
As thou till now hast labored to enslave it. 
And thine will be a rank and titled name 
For which the proudest king will envy thee, 
And thine will be a wealth untold and grand, 
Surpassing far the treasures of the. East; 
And thine will be a fame of ancestry 
Of which thy latest progeny will boast. 
Is that, pray, not a better plan than thine ? 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 33 

Bradburn. 
My oath of fealty bars its execution. 

Elsie. 
Resign thy office and thy oath is void. 

Bradburn. 
The Mexicans will confiscate my wealth. 

Elsie. 
So forfeit it and feel relieved in conscience. 

Bradburn. 
Thou knowest not the pangs of poverty. 

Elsie. 
They must be comforts 'gainst the pangs of shame. 

Bradburn. 
Why ride Rebellion's billows, when our barks 
Can lie at anchor in the haven of order ? 

Elsie. 
A gallant ship prefers the tempest's wrath 
To rotting in some stagnant navy-yard. 

Bradburn. 
'Tis folly to emprise an undertaking 
Which lacks the faintest prospect of success. 

Elsie. 
Success is but the foot-rule of the world ; 
Right is the measure God in Heaven applies. 



34 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Bradburn. 

And if thy zeal, thy honesty and courage 
Could win me o'er to thee and overthrow 
Mine every plan, mine every principle, 
One obstacle will always still remain, 
'Gainst which thy arguments cannot prevail : 
My love for thee ! To think thee lone and helpless 
'Mong strangers, war and passionate party-strife, 
I cannot, must not, dare not list to thee. 
Elsie. 
[//z utter despair. ] 
•Again thy ear is deafened to my prayers, 
Again thy heart is hardened to my tears. 
Poor father, oh ! how wilt thou rue it once ! 
For come it will, that stark, that dreadful hour, 
When every word I spake just now, will ring 
Within thine ear, like mockery of devils. 
When every tear I shed just now will burn 
Upon thy soul like drops of hellish fire ! 
Oh, knewest thou, how bleeds my heart within me, 
Couldst thou but see those visions 'fore my mind, 
Couldst thou but hear the warnings in my ear. 
Thou wouldst, thou wouldst relent for thine own good. 
'Tis not to be ! Let God's will then be done ! 

\_Proceeding more cahidy. ] 
One more request I have to lay before thee. 
Thou hast upon thine own authority, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 35 

Imprisoned William Travis and his friends. 

So promise then to me, that e'en to-morrow 

Thou lawfully wilt try the charge against them. 

I ask no favor, or for me or them, 

I only plead the human right of justice. 

As is the sun the source of every life, 

So, so is Justice Mankind's other light. 

As he dispelled the chaos' mighty gloom 

So led her genial hand the human race 

From beastly state, when might alone was right, 

To kinder, purer, better sentiments ; 

As without him no being could exist, 

So without her Life were a baneful curse ; 

As shine his beams alike on worm and lion 

So equally she pours her benefits 

O'er rich and poor, and o'er the weak and strong. 

Sin, father, not against her holy law, 

For great as are her blessings, is her vengeance. 

Bradburn. 

Remember, child, I am not here to judge, 
But only to attend my master's orders ; 
Yet at thy pleading I will fain extend 
What little mercy's scope is given to me, 
Beyond its limits e'en, if they deserve it. 
To prove my word's sincerity to thee, 
I instantly will speak to William Travis. 

\He taps a bell. A soldier enters^ 



36 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Inform the jailer that I wish to see 

The prisoner, William Travis, led before me. 

YExit soldier.^ 
Leave us alone now, child, and rest convinced. 
That day and night my every thought will aim 
Thy welfare to promote. My love shall yet 
Prepare for thee a radiant sky of life. 
E'en though light clouds obscure it now. Good night. 

[He kisses Elsie's forehead. Elsie leaves the room with 
signs of great despondency^ 

Scene VII. 

Bradbmii at first alone. Afterwards Travis. 

Bradburn. 
A new embarrassment ! When will they cease ? 
As if conjured by some magician's wand, 
Who bears me ill, so from the ground they start 
And try to block my way to peace and rest. 
But triumph not too soon, ye cruel powers ! 
As sailors throw the deck-load over-board 
To save their battered ship from total wreck, 
So shall not scruples, hitherto revered, 
Nor principles, observed till now, debar me 
From the reward of my laborious life. 
This rising spectre of my daughter's love 
For that rebellious upstart must be crushed, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 3/ 

Crushed, crushed, by every means that might controls, 
That, right or wrong, will consummate the end. 
He, first of all, must be removed from here, 
Must be dishonored in my daughter's eye, 
For which, methinks, I know a proper way. 
Provided that his pride will not defeat it. 

\He sits doivii at the table to write. Enters Travis^ es- 
corted by the jailer?[ 
Leave me alone a moment with that man. 

\Exit jailer. Bradburn having risen and standing near 
the table, surveys Travis from under his eye-brows ; 
the latter, with arms crossed over his breast, stands 
frankly before him^ 

Well, William Travis, must I still behold thee 

Maintaining thy defiant attitude. 

Which ill becomes at any time a captive, 

But even less avails as hiding mask 

The base destroyer of a maiden's peace ? 

Abject enough is an ungrateful rebel. 

But language fails in epithets for him 

Who makes a trusting maiden's love 

The ambuscade of his nefarious schemes. 

Travis. 

Thou wieldest here the sword of tyranny 
Unscrupulously; why then delay est thou 
To join wiih it thy fatherly revenge ? 



38 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Bradburn. 

A coward hurls his bold defiance only 

When feeling him secure. Thou knowest well 

That striking thee, I also strike my daughter. 

Travis. 
A despot rarely makes such nice distinctions. 

Bradburn. 
That I do make them proves thy word as false. 

Travis. 
Words oft must serve as substitutes for truth. 

Bradburn. 

Enough, this idle interchange of speech 

Which neither mitigates the culprit's guilt, 

Nor elevates the judge's majesty. 

The packet-boat lies ready at the wharf, 

To-morrow even to convey from here 

To Vera Cruz thee and thy fellow rebels 

For trial at the court of Mexico. 

Your death is certain; for the Mexicans, 

Justly embittered o'er the foreigners 

Who wantonly disturb the peaceful realms 

Of their domain by stirring strife and discord, 

Long since have clamored, that a stern example 

Of justice should be meted out to them. 

Therefore, I ween, they hardly will forgive me 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 39 

If I deprive them of the welcome show, 
To see three prominent Americans 
Transported through the streets of Mexico 
Amid the hooting of the populace. 
But as it is, they must this time forego 
The spectacle, unless thy stubbornness, 
Unwarranted by either hope or fear, 
Force me to disregard my daughter's tears. 
Here, sign this contract, knowing that on thee 
Depends thy life, as well as thy companions'. 

\Bradbiirn hands Travis the note he had been writing 
at the latter s entrance.^ 

Travis. 
[Reads aloud?[ 
This is to certify that I agree 
To leave forthwith the Mexican domain, 
And never after thither to return. 
If Colonel J. D. Bradburn will consent 
To pay into my hand the full amount 
Of thousand dollars gold at my departure. 

\He tears the paper i)ito shrcds^^ 
Well, well conceived, John Bradburn! this design 
Does credit to thy ingenuity. 

[Sniiling?[ 
The more a pity, that it must remain 
Shelved in the storehouse of thy fertile brain. 



40 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Bradburn. 

In earnestness I made to thee this offer ; 
What then provokes thy rude hilarity ? 

Travis. 

Forgive! the thought, how many mice John Bradburn 

Aims to inveigle in a single trap, 

Just now appeared to me quite ludicrous. 

Bradburn. 
What meanest thou ? I understand thee not. 

Travis. 

The better thou art understood by me. 
By my acceptance of thy offered bribe 
Thou mean'st to place me as a renegade 
And wretched knave before my countrymen ; 
Thou mean'st to free thee of a bold opponent, 
Who e'en in fetters is to thee a terror, — 
Thou meanest to efface my name inscribed 
Upon thy daughter's heart as undeserving 
Her love, her admiration, her esteem. 
And what is the equivalent thou givest .'' 
An insult couched as promise in disguise, 
When not the wealth of all the earth can buy 
From me my countrymen's regard and friendship, 
My zeal for freedom and thy daughter's love. 



THE FALL OF THE -ALAMO. 41 

Bradburn. 

\Furiously^ 
Enough, enough ! henceforth expect the worst ! 
Thou shalt yet rue thy obstinate refusal ! 
In chains and irons like a criminal 
I'll have thee laid forthwith — I will to-morrow 
Send thee to Mexico ; — I will — 

Voices outside. 

Hurrah ! 
YA shot fired from without shatters a windoiv in Col. 
Bradburn s rooni^ 

Bradburn. 
[ Trevd)ling7^ 
Ha ! what is that ? what can this noise portend ? 

Scene VHI. 

A great confusion and the footsteps of hurrying persons are 
heard from the corridor leading to Col. Bradburn s 
room. The door is violently opened, through which 
several Mexican officers, among them Capt. Patcho, 
enter, all greatly excited. 

Patcho. 
Oh, Cc'lonel, we are lost ! a band of rebels 
Have scaled our outside ramparts by surprise 



42 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

And turned our cannon 'gainst our barrack-doors. 
Flight or resistance are alike in vain. 

Bradburn. 
Ob, my presentiment ! Why slept our guards, 
And failed to mark the enemy's approach ? 
Close all the gates immediately and place 
Two men at every window ; then collect 
The others in the corridor below, 
Prepared for the sortie I myself shall lead. 
[ The officers rush out, Bradburfi having locked the room, 
the key of which he leaves in the lock, folloius them?[ 

Travis. 
What have I heard ? My countrymen are here .? 
Have occupied their ramparts, seized their guns ? 
Can it be true, and should the blessed hour 
Of my deliverance have- approached so soon ? 

\He goes to the window^ 
Yes ! it is true ! for there they stand ! God bless them ! 
\He waves his pocket-handkerchief ^ 
Hail, hail, my brave, my faithful comrades, hail ! 
To save your friends from prison and from death 
You have not lost an hour, but thrown aside 
Your comfort, your employments and your safety. 
Your friendly service to repay, may soon 
An opportunity arise for me ! — 
But is it possible ? and see I right .? 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 43 

There Elsie stands among them ! How came she 
To join my countrymen ! 

\He strikes his forehead tenth his hands.] 
Oh, loving heart ! 
Now first, now I divine thy stratagem. 
Thou wast the guide, that brought assistance here, 
When every other means proved unavailing ! 
What seemed confused, entangled hopelessly, 
Quickly the magic of thy love dissolves ; 
What deemed impossible my doubting mind, 
Thy loving courage lightly executes. — 
But see ! what means that joyful agitation 
And curious flutter 'mong my countrymen .'' 
Ah, I observe ! my Elsie's magic charm 
Has proved effective ; for a flag of truce 
Advances from the barrack-gate. 'Tis Bradburn ! 
How hard, how grievous must his every step 
Appear to him ! how painful his defeat! 
How ominously he must around him feel 
The pinions of the gloomy spirits waft, 
Whose counsels lured him on his giddy way, 
Whose voices shut his ear and heart against 
The warnings of his better genius, 
And whose triumphant mockeries and sneers 
Now point him to the wreck of all his plans. 
So it has been, and so 't will ever be : 
The harvest sown upon the poisonous soil 
Of tyranny, will bear no other fruit 



44 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Save ruin and disgrace to serf and master. 
But see ! the parley is at end ! it means 
Surrender and exchange of prisoners, 
As I infer from seeing Elsie freed 
From her captivity : will she come here ? 



Scene IX. 

Enters Elsie. Travis leaves the window and co?nes to 
meet her. 

Elsie. 
Oh, Travis ! freedom smiles on thee again ! 

Travis. 
And twice as gratefully, since I receive it 
Given through thy hands and from thy lips announced. 

Elsie. 
Thou know'st what has occurred ? Pray, tell me how ? 

Travis. 
My knowledge rests on inference alone, 
Since I beheld thee 'mong our countrymen. 
Thy own lips must impart to me thy venture. 

Elsie. 
My tale is brief. Sad and disconsolate 
About my father's unmoved stubbornness, 
I went, while yet he was engaged with thee. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 45 

To seek my garden-arbor, there to muse, 

And weep and pray, when suddenly there sprang 

Armed men from every bush and every shrub. 

Rushed o'er the Httle bridge I had let down, 

And scaled the walls, while I remained their captive. 

Who served as welcome hostage in their hands. 

Travis. 
Thou knew'st then nought beforehand of their coming? 
Thou wast then not the guide who led them here ? 

Elsie. 

Unconsciously, — I see it now, — I served 
As means through which thou hast regained thy 
freedom. 

Travis. 

My erring mind, dear Elsie, just ascribed 
A heroine's glory to thy conscious deed. 
My seeing spirit must attribute now 
That higher crown to thee, an angel's halo ! 
Oh ! would thou couldst forever thus remain 
My intercessor with the powers of fate ! 

Elsie. 

In spirit, yes ! through daily, hourly prayer 

I'll be with thee as friendly genius, 

Though now our ways must part here, since my father 

Will henceforth more than ever need my aid. 



46 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Travis. 
Oh ! must the glorious dawn of Liberty, 
Oh ! must the day, that oped my prison-door 
Consign thy life to night ? It cannot be ! 

Elsie. 

Yes, it is night, that henceforth will enshroud 

My soul and heart, but mind thee ! not the night 

Of bleak despair, of crying agony ; 

No, that of holy sadness which becomes, 

The more it grows, the dearer to the heart. 

For from afar the radiance of thy course 

Will cast a sweet reflection on my path, 

Not too resplendent as to jar by contrast, 

And not too feeble as to fail in comfort. 

So will my life be henceforth like a chapel. 

Among whose sombre aisles and colonnades 

The sunlight, falling through the colored panes. 

Pours out a mellow-tinted "clarobscuro," 

The sweetest light, 'neath which to dream and pray. 

Travis. 

Oh, happy talent of the female heart, 

Whose heavenly instinct knows how to detect 

Some light upon the darkest sky of sorrow, 

Some hope amid the wildest sea of woe. 

Oh, give me but an atom of that balm. 

Thy childlike faith, and I will part in peace. 



THE FALL OF TILE ALAMO. 47 

Elsie. 
Fain I extend to thee that comfort, couched 
In the relation of an incident 
Which, though it happened many years ago, 
Is deeply graven on my memory, 
And seems to me a fitting simile 
To show, how once our mystery may be solved. — 
When, still a child, I tarried with my father. 
Then stationed at some far-off western fort, 
We were beleaguered by a furious band 
Of wild Comanches, who with yells and shots 
Essayed to storm the ramparts. Overcome 
By childish fear, I hid me underneath 
The altar of the Mission. So concealed, 
I trembling sat beneath that gloomy spot, 
When I observed amid that sombre light 
An iron bolt. I pushed it back and raised 
A secret trap-door, which revealed to me 
A frowning passage-way. With fleeting steps 
I then procured a torch, and by its light, 
Explored the yawning path. For many hours 
I wandered through its jet-black gallery. 
Until, arrived upon its end, there burst 
The glowing sunlight through some window-panes 
Upon my dazzled eyesight. I had reached 
Another Mission, far remote from ours. 
Where I was safe from injury and harm. 

[ With the highest solemnity of inspiration?^ 



48 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Dark as that subterranean corridor, 
So lie our lives our anxious gaze before, 
Illuminated only by the glimmering light 
Of our unwavering love. But as the night 
Which wrapt my transit through that secret way 
Was changed to unexpected, welcome day, 
So, too, for us shall dawn the glorious hour. 
When God, the Lord, through His mysterious power, 
Shall re-unite us, nevermore to part ! 
Let this assurance alway cheer thy heart ! 
Travis. 
[ With great enthiisiasm?[ 
Speaks God through thee ? hast thou become His 

angel. 
Such as of old proclaimed His truth to men .? 
It is, — it must be so, as thou hast said -: 
For I behold it in the radiant beams, 
Shed o'er and round thee with transfiguring glow ; 
I hear it in thy deep-inspired tone, 
That strikes my ear with heavenly melody ; 
And self I feel it in the fervid ardor 
Which has replaced my bosom's icy chill : 
Such is not earthly joy ; it is the splendor 
Of Heaven above, and God alone its sender. 
Elsie. 
YAs ahove?^ 
Yes, trust in Him ! pursue thy manly way, 
Deliver Texas from the tyrant's sway, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 49 



Unwaveringly, till thou hast reached the goal, 
And shouldst thou fall, then will th}^ Elsie's soul 
Soar hand in hand with thee the airy flight 
To yonder homes of happiness and light, 
While in a thankful nation's memory 
Thy name and hers live for eternity. 

\A long embrace^ 



Scene X. 

Enters Bradburn with a paper in his hand. He is fol- 
lowed by some Mexican officers, ivho station them- 
selves on the left side of the stage. Behind them 
enter Frank IV. Johnston, commander of the 
patriots, Don Lorenzo de Zavala, Wm. H. Jack, and 
several other patriots, who occupy the right side of 
the stage, ivith the table between them and the Mexi- 
cans. 

Bradburn. 

[ Who enters a little in advance of the others, steps between 
Travis and Elsie. ^ 

Part ! 

Elsie. 
[ JVaving her hand to Travis?)^ 
Fare thee well ! 



50 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Travis. 

\^Steppiiig toward the right.\ 
Fare ever, ever well ! 

YExit Elsie?[ 

Johnston, 

\^Just entering ?[ 
Hail, Travis, friend ! thou art revenged, art free ! 

Jack. 
SjOoming behind Johnston., to Travis.^ 
Thank God, thou livest still ! Our fears are calmed. 

Zavala. 
\Folloiving Jack., likewise addressing Travis?\^ 
Have now thy pupils earned their master's praise ? 
Travis. 

^Shaking hands with all.^ 

Thanks, thanks to all of you ; no more I say ! 
Your kindness, friends, has opened every sluice 
That in my heart held back the founts of joy. 
Which unobstructed now burst forth and drown 
Each word of thanks, as on my lips it steps : 
The better shall my future deeds bespeak them. 

Bradburn. 
[ Who, i??imediately after his entry., had sat doivn at the 
table., to copy the articles of surrender agreed tipoti, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 5 I 

has finished them now^ and signaling to two Mexican 
officers to sign them., rises from his seat., and addresses 
the Texans?[ 

The articles are ready to receive 

Your signatures : yet ere they are affixed, 

Ere by the pen you irrevocably 

Will ratify the actions of your hands, 

I deem it just, once more to warn you all 

Against the bitter fruit, which must spring forth 

From your defiance to authority. 

Johnston. 
Waste not the efforts of thy eloquence ; 
Ours is the best authority of all : 
The vindication of our sacred rights. 

Bradburn. 
[ With a S7ieer.'} 
I never heard of that authority. 

Johnston. 
\_As he puts down the peji, wherewith he has signed the 

articles, in which proceeding he is followed by Jack 

and Zavala :] 
The die is cast ! 't is Liberty or Death ! 

Bradburn. 
All matters settled now, we leave the fort ; 
So fare ye well, till here we meet again. 



52 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Johnston. 
Nought is impossible with God. Farewell. 

\Bradburn and his Mexicans leave the room^ 
Travis. 
This fort has fallen. But what about the others ? 

Johnston. 
An hour ago we have received the news 
From Nacogdoches, that the patriots 
Have driven the Mexicans from fort and town. 

Travis. 
Indeed ? Then why not start to take Velasco ? 

Johnston. 
Brave Austin may have ta'en it by this time. 

Messenger. 

{^Entering with other Texans^ 
Hail, countrymen ! I bring you happy news! 
Velasco has surrendered ! Captain Austin 
Has sent me to convey to you these tidings. 

All present. 
Cheer, cheer ! 

Johnston. 
So bear with thee to thy commander 
As joyous a report as thou hast brought, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 53 

That Nacogdoches and our Anahuac 
Are likewise in the patriots' hands. 

Messenger. 

I will. 

Zavala. 

As sunny rays the snows of April melt, 

So quickly has our tyrants' might succumbed 

Before our first spontaneous enterprise. 

When thus so strikingly the hollowness 

Of their pretended magnitude is proven, 

And while they left us without law and rule, 

Why not declare us here immediately 

Free and absolved from every fealty, 

Now and forever, to a Mother-State, 

Which, ever deaf to our most just complaints, 

Will find in our revolt sufficient cause 

For still severer measures of oppression ? 

Travis. 
My friend, forgive me, if I must declare 
Thy well-meant counsel out of time and place ! 
Thou once hast told me, that through us thou first 
Hast learned to loathe the bane of tyranny 
And to concede to every man his birth-right 
Of Liberty and Justice. Hence reject 
Another lesson not, which unaware 
We have imbibed e'en through our mother's milk. 



54 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



And which our native country's mighty breath 

Since then has fanned into a conscious truth. 

Self-gov-ernment — the capability 

To rule as well as to be ruled, — that is 

The only true and safe palladium 

That guarantees a stable permanence 

Of peace and freedom and prosperity. 

Self-government — that is the corner-stone 

On which alone a State can safely rest, 

From which it draws, as from a root of life. 

Strength to withstand misfortunes, storms and wars. 

Self-governme7it — that is the magic wand 

Through which each one's peculiar gifts and powers 

Are instantly aroused and reared and turned 

Into a boon and benefit for all. 

Self-government — that is the fount of youth 

Through which each day a land is born anew, 

And shielded 'gainst the stagnant influence 

Of ruling classes and monopoly. — 

Hence when this new-awakened strife of passion 

Gives way before our reason's calmer sway, 

Let us select from every town and borough 

Such men as most deserve our confidence, 

To meet in council, to review our wants, 

And to propose their well-considered plans 

For our acceptance or rejection. So 

We shall avoid the cliffs of anarchy. 

And safely reach the haven of ordered state. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 55 

Jack. 
That, Travis, is the just and only way. 

Johnston. 

No doubt it is ! yet while the radiant fire 

Of patriotism casts heavenward its flame, 

We ought to foster it and have a care, 

That everyday-life's little interests 

Not quench the once-awakened stir of hearts. 

This to achieve, what agent is so strong. 

So universal as the power of Song ? 

Like as a lusty eagle, bold and fierce. 

By it the soul will soar to heavenly spheres, 

Like as a tempest, so this God-sent dower 

Will swell our hearts with all-resistless power. 

Hence, countrymen, intune with deep-felt glee 

The stirring " Hymn of Texan Liberty," 

And bear it home and spread it through the lands. 

Where'er a homestead lies, a cottage stands, 

And where you be, together or alone, 

Let rise your hearts on its inspiring tone. 

Rise, freemen, rise ! your watchword be : 

" For Texas and her Liberty !" 

\During the whole progress of this scene more and more 

Texan Volunteers have quietly entered the room.which 

is now filled with them to its utmost capacity. Rising 

from benches on which they have taken their seats ^ they 

710-w intune^ 



$6 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



THE HYMN OF TEXAN LIBERTY* 
I. 

Rise, valiant yeomen, one and all, 
And take your swords in hand; 

For hear you not the thrilling call 
Of Freedom through the land ? 

So let her not appeal in vain, 

But raise for her a holy fane : 

Rise, freemen, rise ! your watchword be : 
" For Texas and her Liberty ! " 

2. 

Leave wife and child, drop tool and plow, 
Your home, your work forsake ! . 

A higher prize of yours is now 
In danger and at stake : 

Your faith, your honor and your right 

Are threatened by the tyrant's might ; 
Rise, freemen, rise ! your watchword be : 
" For Texas and her Liberty ! " 

3- 

No earthly treasure is too high. 

Too great no sacrifice. 
E'en though it were to bleed and die 
For Freedom's lofty prize ; 
* For the tune of this Hymn see page 241. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 57 

Happy, if gains your sword and toil 
For you a grave in Freedom's soil : 

Rise, freemen, rise ! your watchword be : 

" For Texas and her Liberty ! " 

4. 
And if the tyrant loudly boasts 

Of greater might than ours : 
Our Ally is the Lord of Hosts, 

With all His gifts and powers ; 
He aids us, for our cause is fair ; 
Who will then tremble and despair ? 

Rise, freemen, rise ! your watchword be : 

" For Texas and her Liberty ! " 
[Curtain.] 

ACT SECOND. 

Scene I. 

A road leading through a forest, with the Alamo in the 
back-ground. Wm. Travis accompanying Edward 
Burleson and Frank W. Johnston, who appear 
equipped for a journey. 

Travis. 

The spot is reached where we must part, my friends, 
You to go eastward, — I to Avend my steps 



58 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Back to the Alamo, with whose defence 

The same command which ordered your recall 

Has trusted me, at best a doubtful honor. 

Happy the soldier, whom his narrow way 

Of duty leads securely on his path ; 

His order is his never-failing compass. 

Its execution his delight and praise. 

Such, by no means, is the commander's lot, 

Whose pleasure-cup is bittered by the worm-wood 

Of Care and grave Responsibility, 

Who oft, when human wisdom fails his mind. 

With shuddering hand must draw a doubtful chance 

From out the urn of fate, which mercilessly 

Decides on this his merit and his fame. 

But then, as meet it is, a soldier's wish 

Succumbs before the voice of discipline. 

Burleson. 

'Tis strange how oft, what seems to one a burden 

His neighbor covets as his greatest boon. 

'Tis so the case with us ; for nothing more 

I should desire to crown my life's exploits 

Than to defend the self-same Alamo 

Which but two months ago the volunteers 

In my command so gallantly have won. 

Like as a precious gift I cherished it, 

Such as we fain repeatedly defend 

To show, how much we value its possession. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 59 

The only comfort then, when we must leave 
So dear a property behind, is this : 
To know its keeping trusted to a hand 
That is as brave, as ours designed to be. 

Travis. 
Thanks for the honor of thy compliment, 
Although my diffidence deserves it not. 
However much it may be justified. 
I beg thee to remember, that of all 
The nineteen-hundred, then in thy command. 
No more than hundred fifty yet remain 
To garrison the fort's extended walls. 
Consider, too, that Santa Anna leads 
His army's flower, near thirteen-thousand strong. 
With guns and siege-train 'gainst our time-worn ram- 
parts. 
Pray, misinterpret not my doubts as fear ; 
For e'en if victory is out of question 
Save — if you will — the victory of a brave 
Yet fruitless opposition, — still the wish 
Is fair, I think, that my defence, my death 
Prove not quite useless for the weal of Texas. 

Johnston. 
So let us hasten, Burleson, to reach 
Sam Houston on the Colorado's banks. 
And there arrived, not to relent in prayers 
Till he has sent the Alamo relief. 



6o THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Against its stone-walls as against a rock 

The en'my must exhaust his wrathful power, 

If not, his hosts will overflow the land. 

So fare thee well, friend Travis, till thou hear'st 

Our trumpet's peal to herald thy release. 

Burleson. 
The eyes and hopes of Texas rest on thee. 
Be thou the bulwark of her Liberty ! 

Travis. 
I will, I will ! — so to our friends report : 
That Travis is resolved to hold the fort 
Until his end, and that from its debris 
Shall rise the phoenix of her liberty ! 

\Exeunt Burleson and Johnston^ 

Scene II. 
[Biopsis.] 

Travis alone. 
I. 
Farewell, for ever ! for I feel it, soon 

I must bid even life a last farewell ! 
So let me, friendly Nature, then commune 

Once more with thee, ere sounds my funeral knell. 
And strengthen me with every comfort's boon. 

With all the blessed gifts, that in thee dwell, 
To cheer my heart and courage for the task 
Which honor, freedom, country from me ask. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 6 1 



Thou who hast nursed me in my mother's womb, 
Whose arms have borne me into life and Hght, 

Whose genial warmth has swelled my childhood's bloom. 
Whose teachings made the school-boy's rambles 
bright,— 

Spare not thy balm, when standing at my tomb 
I more than ever need thy counsel's might. — 

Have thanks, e'en now thou hast fulfilled my prayer 

In yon cocoon, suspended in the air. 

YHe takes a caterpillar s web from an overhanging 
branch.^ 

3- 

Thou chrysalis ! how well thou showest me 

Kind Nature's beneficial ordinance, 
That saves her children from the agony 

Of transitory progress by the trance 
Of sleep and death, whose torpid mystery 

Begets in them new powers for their advance, — • 
Thou only slumber'st to await the change 
That will extol thee to a higher range ! 

4. 
Of loathsome mien, of uncouth form till late, 

Thou shalt be draped in raiments proud and rare, 
When summer-heats unlock thy prison-gate 

And send thee forth as " blossom of the air," 



62 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Whose thirst the flowers' sweet petals satiate, 

While leaves and stalks formed hitherto thy fare. 
Perfected so in shape, in hue, in wants, 
Live on thy circled life mid earthly haunts. 



And I ? — Like thee / have a web to spin, 
A tegument for my immortal soul : 

The finer, purer threads I weave therein, 
The sooner I shall reach my destined goal. 

For when the rays of heavenly suns begin 
To pour their light on me from serial pole. 

My spirit, like thy butterfly, shall soar 

Its lofty, radiant flight for evermore. 



Hence hope and strive and falter not, my heart ! 

Thou shalt exist for all eternity ! 
Diffused, enlarged, thou shalt become a part 

Of other beings, yet to rise and be ! 
How far, how widely, rests with thee ; thou art 

The own creator of thy destiny : 
Therefore aim well, aim high for genuine truth : 
It holds thy fount of everlasting youth. 

\He sits down on a grassy knoll, and becomes lost in deep 
reverie^ 



THE FALL OF TLLE ALAMO. 63 

Scene III. 
T/ie voice of a ?nan, couiing through the woods, is over- 
heard singing the following song.* 

I. 

Born in the wilds of Tennessee, 

With Indians round about, 
This child was reared and grew to be 

A daring hunter-scout. 
I fought the brinded catamount, 
And dragged the panther from his haunt, 
And grappled with the lynx and bear, 
And scaled the eagle's cliff-built lair ; 
And so it came, that with my name 
Was blent a daring Himter's fame. 

2. 

And when about the neighborhood 
The Creeks spread death and fear, 

I shouldered for my country's good 
My gun as volunteer. 

I served Old Jackson as a guide, 

Fought many battles at his side, 

And often saved by timely aid 

My comrades from an ambuscade; 

And so it came, that with my name 

Was blent a gallant Soldiers fame. 

* For the tune of this song, see page 242. 



64 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



3- 

The war at end, I homeward tacked, 

To settle down in ease, 
But no ! my friends chose me to act 

As Justice of the Peace. 
I could not write ; hence good and brief 
My warrants sounded : " Catch the thief ! " 
But never once I favored wrong. 
Or crushed the poor, or fawned the strong. 
And so it came, that with my name 
Was blent an upright Judge's fame. 

4. 

For Congress then a nominee 

I took the stump and ran, 
And was elected handsomely 

O'er every other man. 
In Congress then at Washington 
I sat as silent as a nun ; 
Yet though I spake but " Aye " and " Nay," 
My vote was honest any way. 
And so I gained a world-wide fame, 
As Congressman without a blame. 

5- 
Now after a ten months' sojourn 

'Mong my Comanche friends, 
I have resolved my steps to turn 

Where my life's journey ends. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 65 

JNly brethren in the Alamo 
I come to join against the foe ; 
They will succumb before his might, 
Yet it will be a glorious fight ; 
So will forever with my name 
Be blent a Martyr s noble fame. 
\_Travis^ having listened Jiitherto with great surprise^ now 
rises^ 

Travis. 
One only being in the universe 
That man can be, and that is — David Crockett. 

Crockett. 
\I)rcsscd in buckskin clothes and wearing a fox-skin cap^ 
now steps from the bushes with Betsy ^ his rifle ^ in his 
Jiand^ 
W.ho called my name ? 

Travis. 

I did — I, William Travis, 
Commander of the Alamo, who hail 
Thy unexpected coming here with joy, 
Since nought could add more strength to our defence, 
Or cheer my men with more enthusiasm. 

Crockett. 
[ Ceremoniously^ 
I thank thee kindly for thy eulogy, 
As we in Congress used to style such praise. 



66 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

But speak ! why lingerest thou here in the woods 
Like as a simpler, seeking healing herbs, 
Or like a poet, scanning Nature's secrets. 
While even now the foe is close at hand, 
And hopes to take thy forteress by surprise. 

Travis. 
YEagerly?{ 
What sayest thou ? It cannot be — my scouts — 

Crockett. 
Have all been captured by the fleet dragoons 
Of Santa Anna, who from different points 
Spread out the network of his cavalry 
That compassed them, ere yet they were aware. 

Travis. 
But pray how happen'st thou to know this news ? 

Crockett. 
Through my Comanche friends who, vulture-like, 
Hang round the skirts of Santa Anna's van. 

Travis. 
If I before have welcomed thy arrival 
As useful, as a blessing to our cause, 
I now behold in it the wondrous hand 
Of Providence, dispatching thee to warn us 
Against approaching danger. But, friend Crockett, 
Let now us haste, where duty calls our steps. 

\^Exeunt^ 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 6/ 



Scene IV. 

Santa Anna's tent in the Mexican Camp before the Alamo. 
Santa Anna seated in an arm-chair, while before him 
stand the Generals Cos and Castrillon and the Col- 
onels Bradburn., Duque and Almonte. 

Santa Anna, 

\Rising?^ 

The auspices of fate, my Generals, 

Were not propitious to our first exploit 

On Texan soil, still I regret it not. 

In every enterprise I have been wont 

To sacrifice a share of mine to Fate 

By reckless venture and impetuous force ; 

And I have found my work to turn out well, 

As oft as Fate received my offering. 

Why it is so, I self can hardly tell; 

Maybe, that, flattered by my reverence, 

(Akin to that of Grecian banquet-hosts 

Who to the gods poured out their goblet's prime), 

The fatal god grows reconciled to me ; 

Maybe, that like a savage animal 

He feeds upon the booty thrown to him, 

While free from his restraint and fickleness 

Man's innate talent can work out its way — ■ 

Enough, to-day's discomfiture proclaims 



6S THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Our undertaking's ultimate success, 

To which, besides, our soldiers' discipline, 

Our leaders' bravery and experience, 

Withal our might and numbers clearly point. 

But albeit my detention hindered me 

To be a witness to this morning's fight, 

So render me, Castrillon, thy report. 

Castrillon, 

According to Your Excellency's command 

I was to storm the Alamo, so soon 

I had arrived here with the army's van 

Of thirteen hundred men. In steadfast march. 

Though flew the bullets thick and fast, we reached 

The ramparts of the forteress, which we scaled. 

In vain. No sooner had the crest been gained, 

When madly, like a wounded grizzly bear. 

The garrison flung headlong down our ranks 

And boldly opening then the gates, rushed forth, 

— Travis their leader — on our wavering men. 

They fled and stopped not in their maddened run, 

Till they had reached the refuge of our camp. 

One single captive, whom, attacking me, 

I with my sabre cut across his brow, 

Is all the trophy which we have obtained, 

While of my thirteen hundred men 

More than one-fourth are either killed or wounded. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 69 

Santa Anna. 
So bring, Castrillon, then thy captive here, 
That we may question him about the fort. 

\^Exit Castrillon . ] 
Meanwhile receive my will for this campaign. 
Ween not, that when we have subdued and crushed 
This base revolt, our task were then complete. 
A fool combats the evil's gorgon-head, 
A prudent man destroys the evil's rool. 
This territory must become the bulwark 
Of Mexico against the threatening tide 
Of immigrants from Anglo-Saxon stock, 
Which thoughtlessly has been allowed to roll 
Its waves of heresy and rationalism, 
Of lawlessness and bold irreverence. 
Against these ill-defended Texan shores. 
The time has come, when loudly to announce, 
That never on the self-same continent 
The Anglo-Saxon and the Latin races 
Can live in peace and harmony together. 
For as the Roman loathed the crafty race 
Of Carthage, and relented not in war, 
Till every stone of her antagonist 
Was powdered dust, so parts a yawning gulf 
Of bitter jealousy and hate intense 
These modern nationalities. Behold 
The Anglo-Saxons ! Without rest and peace 
They roam and spread and plot and seek and grasp, 



70 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



An easy prey to every fancy's gust, 

To innovations and Utopian schemes. 

'Tis true they fill and colonize the earth, 

And lay it out in states and commonwealths. 

But all of these are frail and hollow shells. 

Whom like a cardboard-house the slightest breath 

May disarrange or wholly overturn. 

Not so the Latin race ! although it lacks 

The other's fitful elasticity — 

Their stern solidity of government, 

Their healthful stableness of disciphne. 

Their innate reverence to authority. 

Are better safe-guards for their future greatness. 

Therefore our peaceful progress to insure, 

I am resolved to put the best barrier 

Of all, a desert waste round Mexico, 

A zone of safety, broad four hundred miles. 

With not one human being save the Indian. 

To this effect, let every town and village 

And farm-house be destroyed, as you pass by ; 

Let every Mexican we meet be sent 

Where he belongs, across the Rio Grande ; 

But foreigners be warned on pain of death 

Immediately to leave this territory. 

When not a soul is left then in this land 

Save Indians and our garrisons perchance, 

The ancient Spanish law, that once forbade 

A stranger's foot to trespass on this land. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 7 1 

Will be renewed and rigidly enforced. 

This is my plan, long nursed and now matured; 

It is for you to act accordingly. 

Scene V. 

Enters CastriHon, leading James Travis, who looks pale 
and exhausted, and whose head is bandaged. 

Santa Anna. 
Is that thy captive, say ? A beardless boy ? 
That is indeed quite ludicrous. I fain 
Would know if all insurgents are mere boys. 

J. Travis. 
What if they were ? They made your bearded men 
Retreat this morn in quite a lively style. 

Cos. 
Boy, knowest thou before whom thou standest here ? 

J. Travis. 
I never saw his face, still every trait 
His blood-shot eye, his lips so firmly set. 
His savage grin, his hollow cheeks, — they all 
Proclaim to me : I stand before " The Butcher." 

Santa Anna. 
Here, gentlemen, you can behold anew 
The fruit of Anglo-Saxon discipline: 
Gross impudence and wanton disrespect. 



72 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

J. Travis. 

We Anglo-Saxons give our free esteem 
To honest men, however poor and low ; 
But such as thee we hate and loathe the more, 
The greater might they have to do us harm. 

Santa Anna. 

Enough I have already heard and borne 
Of thy bravado. Tell us now thy name. 

J. Travis. 

James Travis I am called. 

Santa Anna. 

James Travis ? what ? 
Art thou related to that demagogue 
Who, Colonel now, commands the Alamo ? 

J. Travis. 
My highest boast is that I am his brother, 
Yea, brother to the best, the bravest man 
That ever breathed the air. No human heart 
Beats so for all that noble is and good. 

Santa Anna. 
Thou art his brother, hem ! that pleases me. 
Yea, pleases me more than a thousand captives. 

\Abriiptly?[ 
How many men defend the Alamo ? 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 73 

J. Travis. 
How many men ? Is that thy wish to know ? 

Santa Anna. 
Yes, yes ! no matter 'bout a man or two. 

J. Travis. 

If thou wouldst know their actual count, then go. 
When have thy minions stormed the forteress 
And count the corpses lying there within, — 
Their number will reveal to thee how strong 
The garrison was of the Alamo. 

Santa Anna. 

\G rinding his tedh^ 
My boy ! thou art still young and ignorant^ 
And ne'er perhaps hast heard of certain means 
That force the strongest man to ope his lips. 
And break the stoutest bosom's stubbornness. 
There is the lash that stripes thy tender back 
With grooves of bloody gore ; there is the rack 
That sends a shock of pain through every limb ; 
There is the iron virgin that inflicts 
Her spiked embrace into thy quivering flesh ; 
There are the red-hot tongs, and many more 
I care not to describe. All these await 
Thy youthful form, if thou refuse to answer. 
Once more : how manv hold the Alamo ? 



74 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

J. Travis. 
Once more, to learn that thou must conquer it. 

Santa Anna. 
Enough; lead him away and try the lash 
Full twenty times on him to test his strength. 

J. Travis. 
That, tyrant, thou canst test immediately. 

\IIe leaps with the fierceness of a tiger at Santa Anna^ 
whose throat he seizes with both hands. ^ 

Santa Anna. 

[Gasping for breath^^ 
Tear him away from me ; he strangles me. 
[ The officers pull Travis away, and form a line between 
him and Santa Anna, who has fallen into his arm- 
chair from exhaustion . ] 

J. Travis. 

[J^ising to his full height.^ 
Behold ! as has a feeble youngster's hand 
Laid weak and low that mighty tyrant lord. 
So lightly shall our patriots' little band 
O'ercome his hosts and break his yoke abhorred. 

Cos. 

[Addressing Santa Anna.^ 
Speak but the word and we cut him to pieces. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 75 

Santa Anna. 

\^Recovering?[ 
No, no ! he must be spared for better ends. 

James Travis. 
For better ends ! Ha ! I devine thy plan 
To use me as a scare-crow 'gainst my brotlier, 
Whom so thou ween'st to force into surrender 
By threats of torturing me ! Is that thy scheme ? 
Well, despot, list ! Although thy base design 
Would wreck against my brother's fortitude 
And hardly need a sacrifice from me, 
Not even I will gratify thy wish ! 
See now, how come " thy better ends " to end ! 

\He tears the bandages froin his wounds^ 
Stream forth, my blood ! if here or in the fight, 
What matters it ? To Liberty and Right 
Thine every drop was vowed; e'en here thou flow'st 
In their behalf! Where, tyrant, is thy boast? 

\Hc falls into Castrillon's arnis.^ 

Santa Anna. 

[J^ising.] 
Quick ! get a surgeon, Duque, and thou, Almonte, 
Assist Castrillon to remove the youth, 

[ When Bradburn takes a hand in the removal?^ 
— Bradburn, thou wilt remain a while with me, — 

\Contiiiuing to address the others^ 



']6 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

And see to it, that this most precious hostage 
Of Fortune is not lost to us. Away ! 
\CastriUon^ Duque and Abiioute bring J. Travis away.\ 

Scene VI. 
Santa Anna., Cos and Bradburn remain. 
Santa Anna. 
I have retained thee, Colonel Bradburn, here 
To trust thee with a charge, I hide it not, 
As delicate, as difficult, but as: 
" The greatest task becomes the greatest mind," 
This mission, well performed by thee, will add 
Another palm of merit to the many 
Which Mexico has entered to thy credit 
Upon the ledger of her gratitude. 

Cos. 



YAside?^ 



The ledger, yes ! but not the cash account. 

Santa Anna. 
It is my wish, that under flag of truce 
Thou instantly start for the Alamo, 
And there arrived, demand the fort's surrender 
With all its men and arms. But am I right ? 
The task appears not pleasant quite to thee. 

Bradburn. 
Make me the leader of the Forlorn Hope, 



THE FA LI OF THE ALAMO. 77^ 

Place me where fiercest raves the battle's roar, 
But bid me not in parley to confront 
Those men, whose every eye-glance, every word 
Mean scorn and sneers cast on my loyalty. 

Santa Anna. 

Is that thy whole objection ? Why, meseems, 
Thy own confession puts thee in the wrong. 

Bradburn. 

No, no, Your Excellency ! 't is only hard 

To reap contempt, where praise should be our harvest. 

Santa Anna. 

A wrongful charge is like an arrow's shaft 

That lacks the head ; it cannot harm or wound. 

Hence, if nought else thou keepest back from me, 

I see no reason, why not overrule 

Thy weak remonstrance and insist upon 

What was my first and well-considered plan. 

Therefore list well to my instructions now. 

Which thou must neither change nor overstep. 

First thou wilt, in the name of Mexico, 

Demand an unconditional surrender. 

When that has been rejected, offer next 

Imprisonment until the end of war 

To all save the commander, William Travis, 

To whom as fair inducement of surrender 

Thou wilt hold out my fine estate, La Paz, 



78 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Which shall be his, beside a cash endowment. 
And as they tell me that he loves thy daughter, 
And she returns his love, I have no doubt 
Thou wilt award thy fatherly consent 
To the fulfilment of thy daughter's wish, 
Thus heightening self my offer's gracious terms. 

Bradburn. 
'Tis not the choice that meets with my approval, 
Yet my antipathy shall not debar 
The welfare of the State, when for its good 
This marriage is essentially required. 

Santa Anna. 
I knew too well thy patriotism, or else 
Should have been loath to forestall thy decision, 
Yet should thy offer even not avail 
Against the rebel's pride, there still remains 
His brother's fate as means of thy persuasion; 
This card, reserved till last and well applied, 
Must make thy mission a complete success. 
So hasten to prepare thee for thy way, 
And when returned, report immediately 
Thy errand's and thy skill's result to me. 

\Exit Bradburn?^ 
Cos. 
Can it be thy intention, — speak ! — to grant 
Such terms of favor to a rebel-hord 
Who took from us, through stealth and stratagem, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



The self-same forteress, which to repossess 

Costs us e'en now the lives of several hundred ? 

And wouldst thou feed these rogues for months and 

years, 
At the expense of our exhausted chest? 
And most of all reward that traitor Travis 
With wealth and grace instead of the garotte ? 

Santa Anna. 
\Folding his hands, and devoutly casting his eyes tip to 

heaven?\^ 
Such is my plan ! if then my countrymen, 
Justly embittered over the insurgents, 
Refuse to ratify its stipulations. 
And slay the men, with whom they made no treaty, 
Thus kindly saving me a fine estate. 
And our Republic quite a large expense, 
I must regret it, though I cannot change it. 

Cos. 

I understand ! but, riddle of a man ! 

Why hast thou chosen that American 

For messenger, who seems to me of all 

Least suited, least trustworthy for the charge ? 

Santa Anna. 
Least suited, why ? His readiness of speech, 
His nationality, his daughter's love 
For Travis, and his diplomatic skill 



80 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Seemed reasons strong enough for choosing him. 
And faithless? Ah ! it needs a strong suspicion 
To overthrow the record of his service. 

Cos. 
I fain bestow on him my confidence 
In every war and emprise save the contest 
Against his former countrymen and friends. 
Elsewhere so gallant, — here he is a coward ; 
Elsewhere so active, — here he lacks in zeal. 
Hast thou forgot, that 'gainst his reputation 
Still lurks the old suspicion, treacherously 
To have surrendered Anahuac's Fort 
Three years ago, without one single shot ? 
And even now he seems upon his mind 
To have some plan, that scents of mystery; 
For as a friend from Vera Cruz informs me, 
He has transferred his bank-account abroad. 

Santa Anna. 
VEagcrly?^ 
He has t since when .'' 

Cos. 

The day of our departure. 
But why so pensive now .'' 

Santa Anna. 

I must confess 
That Bradburn's act, though little in itself, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 8 1 

Somewhat annoys me, since it indicates 

His bold design to free him from his web 

Wherein I saw and helped him evermore 

To grow entangled. An American, 

He entered our service, — a mistake 

Which oft, no doubt, has brought him into conflict 

With all his innate feelings. Weak enough 

To suffer than courageously to free him. 

He first suggested to my mind the thought 

To try and show ivJiat I caii do as god. 

[ ]Vheii Cos, by raising his arms in deprecation, expresses 
his utmost horror at Santa Annas word, the latter 
contimtes ,•] 

As spider then ! By missions like the present, 
I imperceptibly have tightened more and more 
My cobweb's threads around his every step, 
Until my highest curiosity 
Is roused to see and know where he Avill end. 

Cos. 
Beware, lest God ensnare thee self through him. 

\_Exit Cos^ 
Santa Anna. 
[ Uneasy?^ 
This Bradburn troubles me ! for if his will 
Has once rebelled against his fate, why not 
This time, w^hen such a chance is given to him ? 



82 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

The spark of boldness lightly grows a flame. 
I should not have employed that man ; it may 
Yet turn against me. Is it then so true: 
We thinky we rule, while we ourselves are ruled ? 

Scene VII. 
Enters Elsie Bradbuni. 

Santa Anna. 
Miss Elsie Bradburn ? Happy I must call 
The cause that led your footsteps to this tent, 
For, ah ! a soldier's rude and changeful life 
Lets him too oft, too easily forget 
Those milder feelings, gentler traits of heart 
Which woman's beneficial influence 
Begets and fosters in society. 
'Tis hence, indeed, a blessing, when the spell 
Of woman's presence melts at times the ice. 
Wherewith war's chilly blast incrusts our hearts. 

Elsie. 
The flattering praise by which Your Excellency 
Deign to extol our earthly mission's purport 
Most happ'ly lightens the anxiety 
Of my request, whose worthy utterance 
Would otherwise have sorely tried my lips. 
I crave the leave of nursing and attending 
The youth on whom an evil fate has laid 
The double weight of prison and disease. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 83 

Santa Anna. 

\^Frownijigly^ 
Two hundred of our faithful Mexicans 
Lie sorely wounded in our hospitals. 
Why not, if you incline to charity, 
Extend its grateful blessings first on those, 
Who fought and suffered for a righteous cause, 
Than on a rebel, whose defiant pride 
Captivity and wounds could not reform ? 

Elsie. 

That rebel is a countryman of mine, 
Forsaken here, exposed to cruelty; 
He is the brother of the man I love, 
Whose anxious fear too well I can devine. 
Should then these freely-cherished motives 
Not outweigh every duty's stern regard 
Imposed upon me by my father's choice ? 

Santa Anna. 

A loving daughter makes her father's choice 
Her own ; 't is natural and — often — useful. 

Elsie. 

And still there are impressed on every heart 
Some holy laws which claim a precedence. 

Santa Anna. 

These laws our wishes oft interpret wrong. 



84 THE FALL OF THE A LA A/0. 

Elsie. 

Would you not self assign your chief devotion 
To God, your second to your native land ? 

Santa Anna. 

That greatly will depend on what you call 

Your native land. What is this Texas, speak ! 

A dreary waste, a desert territory 

Of Mexico not worth the name of State, 

With outlaws filled and refugees from justice, 

The scum of the depraved society 

Of the United States. And this you boast 

Your native land, a penal colony ? 

Elsie. 

Ah ! must I hear Great Santa Anna's lips 
Repeat the thoughtless sentiments of men 
Who prejudiced, averse to deeper search, 
Judge inward Nature only from without? 
I will admit that many desperadoes. 
Excreted elsewhere through society 
And law from kind respect and intercourse. 
Have found a welcome refuge and asylum 
In sparsely-settled portions of our land, 
On which their crimes bestow an ill repute. 
But, — while beneath the prairies' atmosphere. 
So pure, so temple-like, so God-pervaded, 
And 'mong their dwellers' patriarchal spirit 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 85 

Their bad example cannot prove contagious, 
But must pass off like vapors in the sun, — 
Still they are useful, necessary here. 
Brought hither by the Great Economist 
That rules this universe, they are no less 
Than all the good, that here reside, His tools 
Wherewith He works His deep, mysterious plans. 
Here to erect a grand, a noble State, 
A monument to His Eternal Widom, 
He needs rough stones to lay its firm foundation. 
And coarse cement wherewith to bind its seams. 
The worst materials are the best for this ; 
Without their aid no State was ever built. 

Santa Anna. 

These are quite novel theories to me; 
But pray, proceed, Miss Bradburn, for I long 
To hear your more than curious- eulogy 
Of rogues and desperadoes to the end. 

Elsie. 

Virtue at rest is indolent and slow, 
And needs a spur to rouse her energies ; 
For her regard for peace, her reverence 
For law and order, her dislike to strife, 
Cause often her to bear what she ought not. 
It i-S the bad whose utter recklessness, 
Whose bold defiance of authority, 



86 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

First turn the Ship gf State from out her course 

Beneath the banner of a patriotism, 

Whose pure effusion they adulterate 

With the admixture of their base designs. 

Woe, then, thrice woe then to the ill-starred vessel 

Whose helm the hand of maddened Passion grasps, 

Whose sails the breeze of Fury fills, whose course 

Lies on the stormy main of Anarchy. 

And happy on the other hand the ship 

Whose crew of honest, stalwart patriots, 

Reared in the school of true self-government 

And fully conscious of their virtues' power, 

Arise, suppress the wicked in their band, 

And with their eyes fixed on the Polar Star 

Of Liberty, with steadfast will and hand. 

Direct their course through whirpools, shoals and cliffs, 

Into the harbor of prosperity. 

Santa Anna. 

You quite forget another chance, meseems, 
Which is of all the likeliest, to wit : 

[Very stenily.^ 
When shall the rightful owner of the ship 
Regain possession of his property. 
And visit dire but righteous punishment 
Upon your pirates' heads [sneeringly^, both good and 
bad? 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 8/ 

Elsie. 

All lies with God ! but see, where we have come ! 

The guiding compass of my humble prayer, 

Lost out of view, my lips unwittingly 

Have uttered a political address. 

Apt to offend thee, were it not for this : 

1X.S purport was the interest of Truth, 

Its boldness proved, that still I mean you well, 

And its excuse of being made at all 

Lies, — as you self will generously admit, 

Less in my rashness than your provocation. 

Aspersions thrown upon her native land, 

A Texan maiden will and must refute. 

E'en though it cost her freedom and her life. 

Santa Anna. 
[ With gallantry^ 
No life, no freedom ! but an hour's time 
Which I could scarce have passed more pleasantly. 

\^Enters Cos?^ 
Cos. 
This is the hour appointed to survey 
Convenient places for the batteries, 
In case we must bombard the Alamo. 

Santa Anna. 
'Tis well ! I shall be out immediately. 

\^Exit G?j^.] 



88 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Miss Bradburn ! stern necessity demands 
My presence elsewhere 'gainst my inclination. 
Forgive, if I depart : as for your prayer, 
VVe will consider it and let you know. 

\^He accompanies Elsie to the door. Exit Elsie.^ 
Were that a sample of a Texan maiden 
My foes would seem redoubled all at once. 
I hope it not ; for while the wrath of man 
Is like a conflagration, fierce but brief. 
The hate of woman is a smouldering fire, 
Imbibed through mother's milk for generations. 
These Bradburns must be watched; it will not do 
To nurse two serpents in our bosom's fold. 

[^He taps a bell. Enters Prado.~\ 

Prado. 
What is Your Excellency's command ? 
Santa Anna. 

Seest thou 
This purse of gold ? It is within thine reach. 

Prado. 
How, how, Your Excellency ? What must I do .? 

Santa Anna. 
Spy out a way to Colonel Bradburn's tent, 
And there concealed essay to overhear 
Each word that he or that his daughter speaks, 
And faithfully report them back to me. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 89 

Prado. 
I understand Your Excellency's command, 
And forthwith haste to enter on my duty. 

\_Exit Santa Anna, followed by Prado^ 



Scene VIII. 

Bradburns tent. Bradburn appears equipped for the 
journey. Enters Elsie. Jose Frado-^ Santa Anna's 
servant, is seen protruding his head from beneath 
the tent-canvas. 

Elsie. 
Where goest thou, father ? 

Bradburn. 

To the Alamo, 
Whose garrison, by my commander's will, 
I am to summon, that they render up 
Themselves, their arms, and all the fort contains. 

Elsie. 
And weenest thou a moment, that they will 
Accede to thy dishonoring demand ? 

Bradburn. 
I cannot tell thee; the result will show. 
Yet when the hopelessness of their defence, 
Their isolation and impending doom, 



go THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Are clearly, sternly pointed out to them, 
I doubt not but they will relent and yield. 
Besides, is Travis not the fort's commander, 
Whose future prospects, brotherly concern 
And cherished love, if they are truly felt. 
Must overbalance his defiant pride, 
Whose end can only be a wretched death ? 

Elsie. 
A glorious death, which he — I know — will choose 
A thousand times, ere he descends to shame. 

^Beseechingly?^ 
My father ! see, I know thy love for me, 
A love, as true as blind and ill-advised. 
Which, like the glitter of a will-o'-whisp. 
Has led thee unaware but steadily 
Deeper and deeper on thy erring way. 
As sailors on a dangerous coast sometimes 
Are lured to ruin through a glaring light, 
By wicked pirates lit to imitate 
A beacon-light, so has thy ill-judged love 
Ensnared thy reason with deceptive power. 

\^Fei'vidly?\ 
Fall back ! turn round ! reverse thy life-ship's course, 
Ere yet it strikes against the fatal rocks. 
Ere yet the fiends, who watch with secret joy 
Its fast approaching doom, leap on its deck 
And feast upon the downfall of thy hopes. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 9 1 

Confide in me, thy child, thy truthful pilot 
Who still can bring thee safely into port. 



Bradburn. 



How, how? 



Elsie. 
And wilt thou not reveal my secret ? 

Bradburn. 
No, Elsie, no ! I vow it by thine love ! 

Elsie. 
There is a hidden passage, long forgot 
It seems, by all who dwell around these parts, 
Solely beknown to me, since when, as child, 
I lingered here, as thou wilt still remember. 
It leads from here into the Alamo, 
The only port we now can safely reach. 
But yet it is a port of patriotism, 
Of fame and honor ! Let us steer for it. 

Prado. 
[ With subdued voice ^ 
That news will pay ! 

Bradburn. 
But, child, the Alamo 
Will soon surrender to the Mexicans. 
What were our fate, if they entrapped us there? 



92 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Elsie. 
It will not, can not : Travis holds the fort, 
And Texan patriots are its garrison. 

Bradburn. 
Unless they yield, their doom is certain death. 

Elsie. 
What if it is ? So let us die with them ! 

Bradburn. 
Heroic child ! — But let us bide our time. 
Ere we select this last of remedies. 
I will fulfill my mission ; if it fails, 
Thy way proposed lies open still to us, 

Elsie. 
\In profound despair. ] 
Alas ! 't will be too late. 

Bradburn. 

Farewell, my child. 
\Bradburn turns to go. Then Elsie, overcome by the pre- 
sentiment of an impending danger, fii'igs her arms 
around his neck, and after a long embrace disappears 
into an adjoi/iing part of the tent. Whe?t Bradburn 
and Elsie have gone, Jose' Prado, crawlijig from 
beneath the canvas and slyly peeping around, speaks 
with exultation, while rubbing his hands ^ 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 93 

Prado. 

Prado ! thy luck is made ! a minute's space 
Did more for thee than all thy life-time's race. 

[£xi'/ Prado:\ 

Scene IX. 

A room in the upper story of the barracks of the Alamo. 
Col. Bowie {^injured by a fall from the platform the 
day preceding the assault) is seen lying oti a couch. 
E?itcr Col. Travis and Col. Crockett. 

Bowie. 

Hail, brave companions, hail ! Thermopylae 

Has by your valor been eclipsed to-day. 

Oh ! that your gallant deeds might have been seen 

By the admiring gaze of humanity. 

Alas ! performed here in the western wild, 

They will escape the writer's graphic pen ! 

Yet, — to have saved the land, the rising nation, 

That consciousness will ever be your part. 

How deeply mourn I my sinister fate 

That kept me from this glorious fight away. 

Still, — even to have witnessed it, what joy! 

How first, — each man upon his post they fired 

Deliberately into the hostile ranks, 

As though it were a friendly shooting-match; 



94 THE FALL OF TLIE ALAMO. 

How then when scaled the foe our walls, they vied 
In rushing fortli with knife and bayonet 
To where a head appeared above the crest, 
And hurled them headlong in the yawning deep; 
And how at last, almost without command, 
They sallied from the gate and spread dismay 
And slaughter 'mong the routed enemy ; 
And that, so far my eye-sight could observe. 
With but the loss of one, — one single man, 
Who, carried by his ardor far ahead 
Before the others, sank bedecked with wounds, 
And so was captured. Say, who was the man ? 

Col. Travis. 
He was my brother. 

Bowie. 
What "i Thy brother James .? 

Col. Travis. 

'Twas he, the true, the noble-hearted youth. 
Cut down in earliest bloom, in day-spring's glow. 
While on the walls he battled at my side. 
Three Mexicans upon the outmost wing 
Had clambered o'er the crest, and were about 
To leap beneath and ope the western gate. 
Whereon we two alone confronted them ; 
My brother took one man and so did I. 
I had not fully yet dispatched my foe, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 95 

And was still kneeling o'er his prostrate form, 
When gleamed, — a dizzy shadow as of death, — 
The sword-blade of the third before mine eye ; 
One moment's faint — a sullen fall — I woke 
And saw our third opponent lying dead, 
And standing by with smiling, radiant face, 
My brother James ; no word was interchanged ; 
One mute but meaning pressure of the hand 
Alone betokened what we thought and felt. 
We hasted to rejoin our friends; the storm 
Repulsed, I gave the signal for the sally. 
And rushing out I lost my brother's trace. 
Once only, through a break among the clouds 
Of battle-dust and powder-smoke, I saw 
His figure as encircled by a halo, 
Far, far in our advance. I called to him. 
He looking back an instant, waved his sword, 
And then was lost amid the swaying crowds. 
A hostile column just advancing then 
Against our men, claimed all my watchfulness. 
And screened my brother's fate from out my view. 
Poor brother James ! Upon our start from home 
My mother, loath to let her darling go. 
Enjoined on me his safety with these words : 
" Watch o'er him as the pupil of thine eye, 
And bring unharmed him back again to me, 
Or else I shall despair of godly mercy ! " 
What shall I then on my return respond 



96 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO, 

Unto her question : " Where is James, thy brother? 
Oh ! I shall never, nevermore return ; 
My fate is sealed in his ; I, too, shall die. 

Bradburn. 
Despair not, faithful friend ! If he is dead. 
His blood, shed in the cause of Liberty, 
Will rise like incense to the heavenly throne; 
Who in return will pour His comfort's balm 
Into thine mother's heart with angel's voice. 
But if alive, trust that thou shalt behold 
His face again; for cruel though they be, 
The enemy will hardly disregard 
The laws of human mercy as to lay 
Their hands on one so young, so fair, so brave. 
Wilt thou not ascertain through flag of truce, 
If he be 'mong the living or the dead ? 

Crockett. 
This was the subject which in coming here 
We were discussing. Hard as it may seem, 
'"Twere meanwhile scarcely prudent to expose 
More precious lives to Mexican revenge. 
The more, as they have raised since their defeat 
A jet-black flag, — I know not, if to show 
That all seems black to them, or that they bear 
Black marks from all the blows received through us. 
The only means to mend this " casus belli," 
As we in Congress styled such knotty point, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 9/ 

Were at the enemy's next attack to catch 
One of their officers and him to hold 
As hostage subject to exchange. 

Travis. 

I see 

The force and justice of thy counseling words. 
All we can do is to abide in patience, 
And hopefully await the nearing crisis. 

\^Enters Captain Kimble^ 
But see, who comes. What tidings, Captain Kimble ? 

Kimble. 

An officer, dispatched by Santa Anna 

And shielded by a flag of truce, stands waiting 

Before the gate. He bears from his commander 

A peaceful message which he will deliver 

To thee in private, witnesses excluded. 

Travis. 

I wish no secret dealings with the enemy ; 

My subalterns are equally my friends. 

Though yearns my heart to know my brother's fate, 

I will not list to private negotiations. 

Kimble. 

He says, unless he speak to thee in secret. 
He must return with object unaccomplished. 



98 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Bowie. 

So waive for once thy honorable objection; 
There is no harm in hearing what he brings. 

Crockett. 
Yes, Travis, do, for we confide in thee. 

Travis. 
If such is your desire I will submit. 

\^Addressi7ig Captain Kimble?^ 
So bring him to this room with eyes blindfolded, 
But, Crockett, thou and other comrades stand 
Before the door, expectant of my call. 

YExit Kimble through a door in the rear. Crockett and 
Boivie^ the latter on crutches^ leave through a side- 
door^ 



Scene X. 

Col. Bradburn^ with eyes blindfolded^ is shoiun into the 
room by Kimble. 

Travis. 
Remove thy bandage, man ! What, Bradburn, thou } 
Again thou comest in the tyrant's van 
To desolate the peaceful homes, the fields 
Of thine own countrymen, and to deprive them 
Of rights inalienable, holy, old, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 99 

For which thine fathers shed their precious blood ? 
But if thou must, why hidest thou not thy shame 
Behind the minions of the tyrant's host, 
Instead of coming with defiant brow 
Into the midst of those, whose every glance 
Must call thy sore disgrace before thy mind. 

Bradburn. 
I hither come, bound by my oath and duty, 
To follow which is virtue, no disgrace. 
'Tis you who are at fault ; you broke your faith 
To Mexico's benevolent republic. 

Travis. 
If thou call Santa Anna Mexico, 
And tyranny a righteous government, 
I then will not contest thy sophistry ! 
Therefore enough of this ! So let me know 
The purpose of thine unexpected call. 

Bradburn. 
His Excellency, Don Lopez Santa Anna, 
Presents to thee his all-respectful greeting 
And summons thee, together with thy band 
Of rebels, to surrender on discretion 
This fort, with all its cannon and provisions. 
He will enclose in light imprisonment 
Thy garrison, till peace has been restored ; 
But were you to continue your defence 



lOO THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

He will not spare man, woman, child or babe, 
Were he obliged to enter by assault. 

Travis. 
Imprisonment or death ? Is that the choice .? 
We choose the latter. Bradburn, spare thy words. 

Bradburn, 
Of thee alone His Gracious Excellency 
Will make exception, if thou yield to-night. 
In appreciation of the gain of time 
And the avoided blood which thy surrender 
Confers on him, he will present to thee 
An hazienda near the capital, 
The finest, largest, best-tilled of the many 
Which Mexico can boast of, and besides 
A generous endowment paid in coin. 
Will that not tempt thee, Travis.^ 

Travis. 

Tempt me ? No! 
Thine words convey too plainly Satan's craft ; 
Though knave enough, thou lackest depth of cunning. 

Bradburn. 
But, Travis, list ! if to that weighty scale 
Of golden expectations, great rewards, 
I self were yet to add the greatest prize — 
My daughter's — •Elsie's — hand, would that not move 
thee? 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. lOI 

Speak but the word: " I yield," and e'en to-night, 
Instead of bomb-sliell hissing through the air, 
And Congreve-rockets lighting up the sky, 
The joyous nuptial-torch shall be ignited 
O'er thee and her: for she has come with me. 

Travis. 

Elsie is here? — so nigh to me? — and, oh! 
Whole worlds could keep no farther us ai)art. 

Bradburn. 

Yes, she is here, within my tent, and full 

Of longing expectation bides the hour 

That shall restore thee to her unchanged love. 

So come with me, that I may join your hands. 

His Excellency, with delicate discretion. 

Requires thee not to fight thy countrymen, 

But will dismiss thee with thy youthful bride 

To Mexico forthwith, where you may dwell 

On the estate he will donate to you ! 

'Mid balmy air, soft as a maiden's touch, 

'Mid orange-groves, dark-leaved with golden fruit, 

'Mong babbling springs that leap from the Sierra's 

Ice-covered summits, sparkling in the sun. 

Thy barns well-stored with grain, thy stalls with cattle, 

A cosey house with numerous attendants. 

O'er which presides a youthful, loving wife, 

What greater happiness upon this earth ? 



102 THE FALL OF THF ALAMO. 

Travis. 
Thou paintest well: and yet thy picture fails 
To mention one unpleasant visitor 
That would cohabit there with me for aye, 
Galling each joy, embittering every pleasure. 

Bradburn. 
I know not what thou meanest, man ? 
Travis. 

Disgrace ! 
Disgrace before my friends and countrymen, 
Disgrace before my very enemies, 
And worse than all, disgrace before myself. 
And if thou say that Elsie could desire 
To have for husband a dishonored man, 
I answer thee: a thousand times, no, no ! 
Thou canst not rob us of the confidence 
Wherewith we trust each other, though divided. 
For love and honor are the self-same thing 
In every heart whose pulse throbs for the right. 
True to oneself is to be true to all. 
If nothing else be thy commission than 
To test my strength, thou couldst have spared that 

trouble. 
Where actions speak, words might be fitly saved. 

Bradburn. 

If nought will overcome thy stubbornness. 



TJ{E FALL OF THE ALAMO. IO3 

So shudder then at what I tell thee last. 
Thy brother James — 

Travis. 

My brother ? what of him ? 

Bradburn. 
Was captured at your sally of this morning, 
And well attended to, will soon recover 
His health, impaired by wounds he has received; 
Yet were thine bold resistance to endure 
But one more day. His Excellency has vowed, 
By tortures never heard of, never seen. 
To blind his eyes, to tear with red-hot tongs 
His handsome, youthful form, limb after limb, 
And these to hurl before the dogs and vultures. 

Travis. 
Poor brother James! Would I were in thy stead \ 

Bradburn. 
Determine then! my time is nearly gone. 
When bides our Chief Commander my return, 

Travis. 
Determine what? Surrender.? Ah, thou errest; 
Though great the trial and grievous the temptation, 
I hold this fort until my latest breath. 
Torture my brother! youthful as he is, 
He will not owe his life to my disgrace! 



I04 THE FALL OF TLIE ALAMO. 

Withhold the maid I love; we better live 

Apart for aye than mated with dishonor! 

Assault and take this fort, kill every man; 

It is for what we hither came prepared. 

And lest thou think that my companions fail 

To share my fortitude and fearlessness, 

From their own lips thou shalt now hear the proof. 

\^He goes to every door and calls without.^ 
Come, Crockett, Bowie, Dickinson and Kimble, 
Come hither all who hearken to my voice. 



Scene XI. 

Enter Crockett^ Dickinson, Kimble and Boiaie, the latter 
on his crutches, through the side-door: some volunteers 
from the door in the rear. Bowie, after his entrance^ 
lies down on the couch. 

Travis. 
My friends ! I have convened you here, that you 
May likewise give your answer to the summons, 
Which Santa Anna has conveyed to us 
Through Colonel Bradburn here, his messenger. 
'Tis his demand, that unconditionally 
We render up to him this forteress. 
So, David Crockett, give him thine reply! 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. IO5 

Crockett. 

A thousand times I have confronted death 
In my own cause, in warfare hardly glorious; 
And should I now by cowardice and fear 
Belie the stainless record of my life, 
Now when a martyr's crown, the highest prize 
To which I have aspired, is in my reach ? 
No, Colonel Bradburn ! tell thy tyrant lord 
That David Crockett always has abhorred 
The name of bondage from his earliest breath 
And is enjoyed to prove this by his death. 

Bowie. 

yFroni his couch ?[ 

I cannot stand erect, as it were meet, 
To hurl my bold defiance at thy feet ; 
Know then that only over Bowie's bier 
Thy master e'er will hold his entry here. 

Kimble. 

Yea, we will save, our faithful swords in hand, 
The cherished freedom of our native land, 
Or gladly fall, with this our battle-cry: 
" Free men we live, and free men we will die! " 

All present. 
Free men we live, and free men we will die! 



Io6 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Travis. 

Thou hast, I ween, received sufficient proof 
What spirit's power pervades my friends and me. 
So go — too long already have thy feet 
l^isgraced, profaned this hero-hallowed soil. 
Thou, Kimble, let him through the western gate 
Safely depart as first with bandaged eyes, 
But that the enemy may glean the sooner 
Our answer to their ignominious threats, 
Thou, Dickinson, have forthwith all the cannon 
Upon the south-side fired against their lines, 
So that their iron messengers proclaim 
With thundering tone into the tyrant's ear : 

Above their lives, o'er wealth and high estate, 
Americans freedom and honor rate; 
We are prepared for death; now storm, now rave. 
The Alamo's debris shall be our grave ! " 

\_All depart with the exception of Travis and Crockett^ 



Scene XII. 
Enters Major Evans. 
Evans. 
I hasten to report, that Santa Anna 
Was spied surveying o'er the grounds, no doubt, 
To mark the places where the batteries 
Shall be erected to bombard the Alamo. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. lO/ 

Against their cannon, mortars and cohorns 
Our guns, light as they are, cannot avail, 
Nor will our walls for any length of time 
Withstand their onslaught. What is thy command ? 

Travis. 
Nought more we can perfect in our arrangements, 
And if we could, our men are too fatigued 
By day-alarms and nightly toil of watching. 
Their efforts must be spared, till comes the end! 
God's will be done ! As eve has broken in, 
Relieve the guards and scouts and let the men 
Whom duty not withholds, convene beneath 
The chapel's strong and well-protected walls. 
A holy service, brief but soul-inspiring, 
Would not be out of place in our condition ; 
So, Evans, make this wish of mine be known 
To Chaplain Smith : if ever by his speech 
He swayed his listeners' hearts to do it now. 
But, Crockett, thou, take my command awhile; 
Not having rested since the enemy came 
Before the fort, I feel the want of sleep. 

\^Exeunt Crockett and EviHis?[ 

Scene XIII. 

Colonel Travis alofie. 
Sleep } Can I sleep } Oh, bitter irony ! 
When scarce I breathe beneath the heavy burden 



I08 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Of gloomy care that weighs upon my heart. 

The convict in his cell may close his eyes, 

The murderer, doomed to expiate his crime, 

May sleep away the night, that is his last; 

The usurer upon his downy pillow 

May rest in slumber like an honest man, — 

While the defender of his country's freedom, 

The victor of to-day, craves all in vain 

The boon of sleep upon his heavy heart. 

And may not my resolve, my steadfastness 

Prove after all a useless sacrifice ? 

What has the blood of all the noble Poles 

Accomplished but to rivet closer still 

The fettering shackles of their fatherland 1 

And may not here the ecstasy of freedom 

Die out as quickly as it first arose, 

A fire of straw, extinguished by a shower? 

Or else, may not the despot's energy, 

His skill, his wealth, his overwhelming numbers. 

Become triumphant over patriotism. 

However deeply it inspire the Texans .? 

For what then sacrifice those faithful men 

Who, fathers, brothers and beloved sons. 

Will long, ah! long be missed with tears at home ? 

For what endanger then my brother's life, 

Whose loss will blight my mother's peace for aye ? 

For what then mar the tender blossom's bloom 

Which at my death will droop her head and fade ? 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO, IO9 

Have I a right, because / deem it right, 

Thus to dispose o'er weal and woe of thousands ? 

And what perchance may be my own reward ? 

A rash and unsuccessful rebel's fame, 

The school-boy's sneer, the tyrant's welcome proof ? 

Oh ! where to find the right, the honest way 

That leads midway these cliffs of doubt and fear 

Into the haven of security? 

S^He steps to the windoiv^ through which, when opened by 

him, the light of the moon is thrown into the room. 

Gazing without, he continues:^ 
Oh, peaceful Night! thou grateful balm of rest 
To sorrow-burdened hearts and weary eyes: 
So also pour thine blessings o'er my breast 
And soothe its throes, relieve its cares and sighs. 
Let me not falter in this grievous test, 
But make for me a polar-star arise, 
A beacon-light, to guide my darkened way 
And cheer my spirit by its blissful ray! 

^At this moment the hymn : ^'' Abide with me ! " intuned 
by the soldiers in the chapel, and acco?fipanied by the 
organ, is faintly heard in the room. During the 
first verse Travis stands listening j when the 
second verse is begun, Travis, raisi?ig his arms to 
Heaven, speaks ivith the greatest ecstasy .•] 

Oh, song of peace! soul-touching melody! 

That like a voice of God, like angels' strain, 

From heavenly realms comes floating down to me, 



no THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Restores my courage, makes me strong again, 

And points my wavering heart's despondency 

To Him who can alone relieve its pain! 

Swell onward, till my bosom's every cell 

Is thrilled beneath thy comfort's magic spell ! 

\_Durmg the singing of the third verse, heard still viore 

disti7ictl}\ Travis, covering his face with his hands, 

becomes absorbed in a deep reverie.^ 

Scene XIV. 
Enters Dickinson in great haste. 

Dickinson. 
Oh, welcome tidings! glorious, joyous news! 

Travis. 
What is it, Dickinson? So speak, I pray! 

Dickinson. 
Below, within the court-yard, stand arrayed 
A band of thirty-two confederates, 
Who left Gonzalez under Oldham's guidance. 
Broke bravely through the hostile lines and reached 
Unharmed and safe the shelter of our fort. 
They bring dispatches from our Chief Commander, 
They bring their own stout hearts and gallant arms 
For our support, but above all they bring : 

^Enthusiastically. ] 
" The Independence of the State of Texas! " 



THE FALL OF TILE ALAMO. I I I 

Travis. 
[Trembling with pyi] 
The — Independence — of the — State— of Texas ? 

Dickinson. 
Pronounced by the Convention on the second. 

Travis. 

So hurry, Dickinson, that I may hear 

The joyous tidings from the men's own lips. 

[Exit Dickitisoni] 
Almighty Lord in Heaven above, Thou hast 
Received and heard my bosom's crying voice 
Beyond what e'en my fondest wish conceived. 
I begged one ray, — Thou givest me a sun; 
I craved one hope, — Thou sheddest o'er my soul 
A wealth of radiant assurances; 
I prayed, that not quite useless were my death, 
And lo! Thou crown'st my latest hours on earth 
With heavenly light, with glory as of Eden! 
Though parting from this world I leave behind 
Friends in distress, related souls in grief, 
I know that Thou, oh. Lord, wilt turn all things 
Unto their best, and hence I sorrow not! 
Oh! could the wavering sceptic who disputes 
God's lordly power, — oh! could the atheist, 
Proud in his self-assuming creed, be here, — • 
Upon their knees they reverently would sink, 



112 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Acknowledging that God still lives and reigns. 
But I, whose way and goal are pointed out 
So clearly now, — I shall no longer doubt 
God's providence, but e'en exclaim in death: 
" Lord, to Thy will I yield my parting breath! " 

Scene XV. 

Enter Col. Oldham and some of his cojnpany, introduced 
by Crockett and Dickinson. 

Travis. 
Be welcome, Colonel Oldham; welcome, men! 
What leads your footsteps to this house of death ? 

Oldham. 
The wish that now bestirs each Texan heart, 
To serve the best they can their young Republic. 

Travis. 
Then it is true, what scarce I could believe ? 

Oldham. 
Thou findest in these letters due assurance. 

\^He hands some dispatches to Travis.^ 
As sweeps a fiery blast across the prairie 
Upon the pinions of a hurricane, 
So spread from town to town, from farm to farm. 
The joyous tidings of the Declaration 
Of Texan Independence through the land. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. I I 3 

As in the year of Seventy-six, when rose 
Our ancestors, so here in Thirty-six 
The aged sire, the yoeman and the youth, 
Whoe'er can wield a musket or a sword, 
Are seen to hasten to the gathering-place, 
While on the country's altar lay the women 
Their cherished jewelry and e'en their tresses. 

Travis. 
Oh, hail this day, that yet my eyes have seen, 
My ears have heard the fresh-awakened spirit 
Of Liberty! Yes, Texas will be free! 

Oldham. 
She will, she will, though only through a struggle 
Than which no greater saw this century. 
Three thousand soldiers, well-equipped and drilled, 
The grim Urrea leads from Matamoras 
'Gainst Goliad, which gallant Fannin holds 
With scarce four hundred of our patriots. 
While Santa Anna, with twelve thousand men. 
Lies here encamped, with many more to come. 
For 't is his safety not to leave behind 
A single man, to oust him from his power. 
Yet also we are not devoid of help ; 
Beside our yoemen, dwellers on our soil, 
Our cause enlists a hearty sympathy 
In the United States, whence many thousands 
Are on their way, to join our army's ranks. 



114 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Travis. 

Thanks for the joy thou gavest to our hearts, 
Thanks for thy zeal and aid; thy recompense 
Will be to share our glorious death and fame. 
While farther you commune, my friends, I now 
Will read the letters from our Chief Commander. 
\_Stepping aside ^ he opem the dispatches and reads them.'] 

Dickinson. 

Pray, tell us, Colonel Oldham, now, what motive 
Urged thee to venture back into this fort, 
From which, if I am right, two weeks ago 
Thou didst depart to reach thy distant home ? 

Oldham. 
The kind reception of some friends I met 
Upon my route, and — must I say ? — e'en more, 
An inward voice that day and night recalled 
My lingering steps back to the Alamo, 
Delayed my journey's progress at Gonzalez. 
While so upon the eve of March the second 
My friends and I lay quietly encamped 
Behind the town, we saw upon the road 
That leads from Anahuac to this fort, 
A horseman coming in the utmost haste. 
Arrived he fell, faint from his arduous ride, 
Into our arms. Concealed on him we found 
The Chief Commander's orders for this fort, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. II5 

The Proclamation of our Independence, 

And for the scattered patriots' bands the summons 

To join the Army on the Colorado. 

But who to bring the message to this fort, 

AVhich as we knew, was grievously besieged ? 

And shall the Alamo's defenders die, 

Not having shared the country's glorious joy ? 

" No, no ! " we cried, " wherein one man would fail 

There thirty-two stout bosoms will succeed." 

Two wagons, spanned with fleeting horses, brought us 

Into the enemy's lines, through which we dashed, 

Ere yet their men had noticed our approach. 

Crockett. 

Our honor's cloak has fallen on your shoulders, 
As we were wont in Congress so to say. 
Yours was no breach of discipline ; it was 
The grandest sacrifice yet seen. But list! 
His letters read, the Colonel bides our hearing. 

Travis. 

Let forthwith all the garrison assemble 
Within the court-yard, that I may address 
My gallant friends on subjects of importance. 

\All leave the room.] 



Il6 THE FALL OF^ TLLE ALAMO. 

Scene XVI. 

Coiu't-yard of the Alaj/io, where the men composing the 
garrison of the Alamo are assembled. Travis., step-, 
ping before them, takes his position near the flag- 
staff. 

Travis. 

My own heart's joy, too great for utterance, 
I see reflected in your faces, friends, 
Bespeaking radiant thoughts and glorious hopes 
Of all, that, best and highest, moves and thrills 
The human heart. For now we know for what 
We left our work, our homesteads and our friends, 
For what we seized our trusty arms, for w^hat 
We gained this morning's glorious victory, 
And most of all, for what we give our lives. 
Now clearly feeling, seeing this, we seem 
Translated to some lofty mountain-peak, 
Earth's littleness far, far below our feet. 
While over us Heaven's uprolled azure-curtain 
Allows us glimpses into ampler realms. 
Such is the inspiration of a holy cause, 
That it removes the veil of mystery 
Which blinds our mortal eyes, distends our view, 
And renders us in broader sphere of spirit, 
Though yet on earth, akin to God our Maker. 
If from His threshold such transfiguring ray 
Is thrown on heroes, standing yet without, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. WJ 

How inconceivable, ah! how profound 

Must be the light that welcomes them within. 

When such a crown awaits our future state, 

It is scarce needed, that I tell you now 

The message I received from our Commander. 

He writes, that yet his army were too weak 

As to relieve us, that we should maintain 

A stout defence, and that we hold this fort 

Unto the last, for on our brave resistance 

Were staked the welfare of our young Republic. 

Where is the cheek that blanches at this task .^ 

Where is the soldier that rejects this trust ? 

Where is the heart that would not gladly grasp 

Such opportunity of fame immortal ? 

Our countrymen inheriting what we 

To them have bravely vouchsafed by our sword, 

Will gratefully hand down our memories 

On sculptured marble to posterity. 

And though in course of ages even this 

Should fall, as sank from Vandal's hand the pillar 

Amid the valley of Thermopylae, 

In chords triumphant later centuries 

Comparingly will chant our glory thus : 

" Ther?nopylce one he i- aid had of deaths 

The heroes of the Alamo had none I "* 

This, this will be our glory, our reward; 

* Inscription of the Alamo-Monument in the State House at 
Austin. 



I I 8 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

I know that none of you desires a lesser. 
Yet though our earthly time draws to a close, 
We will perform our duties still, as meet. 
Whose is the first to pledge by holy oath 
Our homage to our virgin commonwealth. 

[^// raising the fore-fingers of their right hands, pro- 
nounce, ivith the greatest solemnity and in unison, the 
oath following ;] 

All present. 

We, here assembled in the face of death. 
Swear true allegiance, steadfast faith and honor. 
With body, heart and soul, to our Republic, 
The sovereign State of Texas, and to guard 
On land and sea, by day and night, her welfare 
Throughout our earthly lives. So help us God ! 

Travis. 
And now to give an outward sign of this. 
Our holy pledge, to God alone beknown, 
I fling our country's fitly chosen flag, 
The pennon of the Lone Star, to the breeze. 

yUe hoists the flag of the Lone Star.^ 
Lone, lone it flies by enemies surrounded, 
Unfurled 'mid dangers, persecution, death. 
Solely relying on the help of God 
And on its people's love of Liberty ! 
But just as yonder radiant Star of Eve 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. I 1 9 

Stands out alone amid the desert air, 

Yet will, ere long, resplendent shine among 

A lustrous multitude of beaming spheres. 

So, let, us trust, that soon our banner's star 

Will be entwined among the Twenty-four 

That decorate our native Union's banner. 

Meanwhile this flag of ours, when dawns the day, 

Shall silently yet full of meaning's sway. 

Convey the tidings to the enemy. 

That 'neath its folds the Texan will be free. 

So welcome then your banner by its Song, 

Whom the enchanted breeze shall waft along. 

Free as a bird, o'er foe and tyrant's art, 

Into the shrine of every Texan heart. 

\_All present 7iow intime with the greatest enthusiasm .•] 



THE HYMN OF THE LONE STAR FLAG.* 



There was a band, wan and forlorn, 
By ceaseless toil and watching worn; 
Cut off from friends and homes and world, 
With shot and shell upon them hurled. 
No hope was theirs of aid or flight, 
Death fronted everywhere their sight. 

* For the tune of this Hymn see page 245. 



20 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

But faltered they ? No, no, instead 
They flung this banner overhead ! 

Flag of the Lone Star ! oh, glorious sign! 

Where is the banner that rivals with thine ? 

Baptized in heroes' blood, by martyrs unfurled, — 

Flag of the Lone Star! thou pride of the world ! 

2. 

That little band, their labors done. 
Have long since passed away and gone : 
Yet gallant hearts took up their cry, 
And kept their standard waving high. 
They battled bravely, battled long, 
'Gainst whelming numbers fierce and strong. 
Till Victr'y's eagle perched at last 
Upon the freemen's banner-mast. 

Flag of the Lone Star! oh, glorious sign! 

Where is the banner that rivals with thine ? 

Baptized in heroes' blood, by martyrs unfurled, — ■ 

Flag of the Lone Star! thou pride of the world ! 



Ye dwellers in the Texan land. 

Forget ye not that little band ! 

Forget ye not the heroes' deeds 

That planted once your freedom's seeds. 

Oh, keep their memories bright and clear, 

And sacredly their graves revere, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 121 

But more than all, that holy dower, 
The flag they raised in danger's hour. 

Flag of the Lone Star ! oh, glorious sign ! 

Where is the banner that rivals with thine ? 

Baptized in heroes' blood, by martyrs unfurled, — 

Flag of the Lone Star ! thou pride of the world ! 

[Curtain.] 

ACT THIRD. 

Scene I 

An open field in front of the Mexican camp. Colonel 
Bradburn returning from the Alamo. 

Bradburn. 
What moves me so ? what strange, what unknown 

thoughts 
Storm in upon my heart which I had deemed 
So well intrenched, so strongly fortified 
'Gainst every inward, every outward voice ? 
Where now are all my self-invented doctrines, 
That cost me years of struggle, nights of sorrow, 
To raise against my conscience as barrier. 
To muffle its exhorting voice, to lull 
By fancied right my reason into sleep ? 
Where is that memorized vocabulary. 
That, reinforced by well-learnt scowls and gests, 



122 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Served me so often to defend my course ? 

As chaff is scattered by a gust of wind, 

So lightly have my schemes been blown away; 

As April snows melt in the vernal sun, 

So has the ice-crust o'er my innate feelings 

Been loosened by the warmth of genuine manhood 

When that confronted me, when I beheld, 

How all we value most, gain, pleasure, life, 

How all we shun the most, loss, pain and death, 

Forfeit their meaning, lose their moving power 

In sight of greater aims and real truth, — 

Ah, then ! I stood dismantled and unmasked, 

Gazed deep into my bosom's void, and saw 

All gone, all gone I hitherto had cherished. 

But also then I took the stout resolve. 

What little span of life is left to me, 

This to employ, to store my bosom's shrine 

With better treasures. But what now to do ? 

So feeling, so repenting in my heart, 

Ca7t I continue in the vassalage 

Of tyranny and bloodshed and injustice ? 

That were no penance, that were mockery. 

Or else shall I return, and go to join 

My gallant brethren in the Alamo, 

To fight, to die with them ? That were desertion 

And breach of oath, another dastard crime. 

It cannot be, the more as I should leave 

My daughter Elsie in the enemy's hand, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Exposed to all that vengeance may invent. 
What shall I do, where progress or return 
Are fraught alike with guilt or retribution ? 
Most wretched fate of man, that leadeth him, 
Short-sighted, weak and erring, to this world. 
And lets each little sin of his become 
A mount of woes, that crush him by their weight, 
An avalanche of pain, that buries him, 
A tangled maze of errors which to tear, 
He needs the strength and wisdom of a god ! 
There spreads the night her spangled canopy, 
There goes the moon upon her radiant course. 
There move the fleecy clouds in silvery light. 
But, stern and mute, they have no heart for me. 
No solace for my sorrow, no reply 
Unto my question : \(iespainngly\ " Ah ! what shall I 

do ? " 
\^He sits do7V?i to meditate. Then risinc^ energetically, he 

continues ;] 
My course is chosen. Come what will ! I niiist 
Redeem my error, if to feel relieved ! 
Yet she, who innocent, has suffered most 
Through me, her father, must not share my fate ! 
Hence she must first be saved. And here her secret 
Comes to my aid, as if thus planned by God. 
So hastening to her tent, I will inform her 
Of my design, and, oh ! [^liespairingly] take — leave — 

from — her. 



124 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

What terrible decision ! — yet I must ! 

Oh, Elsie ! had I listed but to thee ! 

{HopefuHy.'] Maybe that all may yet turn for the best; 

That Santa Anna may be moved to truth 

Through me, as / was through my hero-brethren, 

Or, that returning my sincerity 

By generosity, he will allow me 

Hence to depart. [^Resolutely. ^ Still were no less than 

death 
To be the expiation of my wayward course, 
I shall not flinch nor beg, but solace me 
With that grand sentence of the Irish patriot-: 

" Whether on the gallows high, 
Or in the battle's van. 
The fittest place for man to die 
Is, where he dies for man ! " 

\_Exit Bradbnrn?[ 

Scene II. 

Santa Amia's tent. Enters Santa Anna with despatches 
in his hand. Later Frado ; still later, Almonte. 

Santa Anna. 
My scouts inform me, that the band of rebels 
Assembled on the Colorado's banks 
Is waxing stronger every day, and threatens 
To hasten to the Alamo's relief. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. I 2$ 

And more than that, they send me a report 

Of what at other times would have provoked 

My merriment, but now appals my mind 

With spectral fear: my scouts announce to me 

The Independence of the State of Texas, 

As so declared by her Convention. ^Inipatieiitly^^ Ha ! 

Were but this fortress in my hands, I should 

Soon overthrow their lofty aspirations, 

And make the Texans free and independent 

Of land and lives and fortunes. \^Violently?\^ I must have 

This Alamo, e'en though it clung by chains 

To heaven itself. Where stays that Colonel Bradburn ? 

\Entcrs Prado^ 
Well, Prado ! in thy countenance I read: 
Thou bringest me some tidings worth the hearing. 

Prado. 

And so they are ! The Alamo is yours, 
Without so much as an assault or treaty. 

Santa Anna. 

What sayest, man ! thou ravest — 

Prado. 

It is so ! 
Concealed behind the tent of Colonel Bradburn, 
I overheard a touching colloquy, 
(Well apt to move me to the bitterest tears, 



126 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Had I but had the time to spare for them), 
Between the father and his handsome daughter. 
Upon her knees she weepingly besought him 
To leave our banner and to flee with her 
To what she deigned to call a port, although 
In my geography it lies remote 
From any ocean's coast — 

Santa Anna. 

Come to the point ! 
What was the port she meant ! 

Prado. 

The Alamo ! 
Since her sojourn in this vicinity, 
When here she passed her tender childhood's years, 
She knows a subterranean passage-way 
That leads from here into the Alamo ! 

Santa Anna. 

[Aside.'] 
So it is true, what once an aged Padre 
In Mexico has told me ! would the man 
Could guide us now ! — But then we have a guide. 

[Aloud to Prado. \ 
But tell me ! was it said in that converse 
Whjre lies the entrance to that gallery.? 

Prado. 

Nought, nought was said about that: they deferred 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 12/ 

This theme's discussion until the return 
Of Colonel Bradburn from the Alamo. 

Santa Anna. 

\_Handing a purse to Frado.^ 
Thou hast done well ! Receive thy promised fee. 

Prado. 
I thank Your Excellency ! 

[^Aside^ and holding up the purse ^ while Santa Anna is ab- 
sorbed in meditation^ 

'Tis not as large 
As when at first held out to me; but then: 
Time wrinkles brows and cheeks: why not a purse ? 

Santa Anna. 
Quick! summon General Almonte here. 

YExit jPrado.] 
You little thought, Miss Bradburn, when you made 
Your wish beknown to me, that each your word 
Gave me a stone in hand, wherewith to build 
Your prison-walls, where easily enough 
I shall your secret's knowledge wrest from you, 
As from his hound the hunter takes his prey. 
None but his equals will a lion combat, 
But when on his pursuit of royal game 
A mouse opposes him, then without pity 
He crushes her with one stroke of his paw. 

[Enters Almonte.^ 



128 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Almonte. 
Your Excellency have sent for me — 

Santa Anna. 

I wish 
Thou would convey this message to Miss Bradburn, 
That her request was ta'en in due regard, 
And, nought opposing, readily is granted. 
Congratulating her in my behalf 
To the fulfilment of her wish, thou wilt 
Without a moment's loss escort the lady 
To Travis' bed in Mission of Concepcion. 
Make haste, for know, that our campaign's success 
Depends upon the swiftness of thy feet! 
\_Exit Almonte. Santa Anna paces the room in deep 

meditation^ 
More, ever more, this spectre Bradburn towers 
Before my mind like a foreboding ill. 
Can it be possible, that while I played 
The god to him, he played \\\q fool with me ? 
Suspicion is of all the best accountant: 
It reckons close and loses not one item. 
So let us see how his account now stands: 
His credit thirteen years' unblemished service, 
His debit-entries many, though not large. 
Whose is the first: His nationality; 
The second: His surrendering Anahuac ; 
The third: The transfer of his property; 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1 29 

The fourth: His daughter's open heresy; 

The last: This secret passage-way's conceahiient ; 

Sum total: Not quite equal to his credit, 

Yet close enough to warrant his surveillance. 



Scene III. 
Enters General Cos. 
Cos. 
Has Bradburn from the Alamo returned ? 

Santa Anna. 
Impatiently I bide his coming here; 
The terms of the surrender may detain him. 

Cos. 
Thou errest ; we shall have to storm the fort. 

Santa Anna. 
How knowest thou ? 

Cos. 
They sent us a dispatch 
Whose meaning hardly can be misconstrued: 
A grim reply of cannon-balls that killed 
Four men of mine exposed to their discharge. 

Santa Anna. 
No time must then be lost! Call out thy men 
With pick and spade, to raise the batteries 



I30 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Wherewith we shall bombard the Alamo. 

For every hour we forfeit means a year 

Of vigor added to the rebel cause. 

Two hours from hence I give, when must our guns 

Boom o'er this land the death-knell of the hopes 

Of Texan Liberty and Independence. 

Haste, haste! thy fate, our fate is staked upon 

The speedy downfall of the Alamo. 

\Exit Cos. Santa Anna again paces the room in deep 

meditation?^ 
One, one more item added to thy debit ; 
Bradburn ! beware ! thou standest at the brink 
Of bankruptcy, with my revenge for sheriff. 
Know'st what that means ? Thou mayst as well expect 
Compassion from a tiger and beseech 
A serpent's tender mercy, if thou durst 
Deceive and mock whom with impunity 
None ever mocked. Full to the margin's brim 
Thy balance is. Let it not overflow ! 

Scene IV. 

Enters Colonel Almonte. 
Santa Anna. 

What now, Almonte ? hast thou faithfully 
Performed the mission I assigned to thee ? 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. I3I 

Almonte. 
Your Excellency's command has been obeyed. 
Miss Elsie Bradburn, at my proffered escort, 
Gave her consent to go and see James Travis, 
Whom now she waits upon with tender care. 
O'erjoyed to see her prayer fulfilled, she charged me 
At earliest opportunity to lay 
Her gratitude before Your Excellency. 
Santa Anna. 

[Asi'Je.] 
Ha, ha ! so birds feel grateful to the snarer 
Who promises to them their favorite food. 

[A/(?ud.] 
'Tis well, Almonte ; thou mayst go, — but wait ! 
Hast thou perchance in Colonel Bradburn's tent 
Perceived some more or less uncommon signs 
Apt to arouse thy curiosity ? 

Almonte. 
None in his tent : the more his daughter's conduct 
Appeared to me a riddle and surprise. 

Santa Anna. 
What was it ? tell me quick ! 

Almonte. 

A grievous fear 
Seemed on her mind, the fear about her father, 
For whose return she looked with anxious care. 
But then again she could not well conceal 



132 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

A secret pleasure 'neath the mask of gladness 
O'er the fulfilment of her late petition. 
'Twixt fear and joy so wavering, she at last 
Resolved to go with me, yet not until 
She had left message, that, so soon her father 
Were to arrive, he should immediately 
Join her at Travis' bedside. This request 
She urgently once more impressed on me, 
When at the Mission I took leave from her. 

Santa Anna. 
This play must end ! My dignity, my peace 
No longer must be jeopardized by fear 
Of treachery within the camp, when dread 
Of treachery without is bad enough. 

^Sitting down^ he writes a few hurried lines^ 
List well to my command. Thou wilt take care 
To see that Colonel Bradburn, as I ordered. 
Immediately on his return to camp 
Come here and enter not his tent. Then bring 
Four soldiers from the guard before my door, 
And entering at the signal of my bell, 
Arrest John Bradburn on this warrant's charge. 

\He gives Almonte a paper. Exit Almonte^ 
Their plan was flight, and now the cunning girl 
Thinks to extend it on the prisoner Travis. 
As made the father Bradburn my commission 
The instrument his coming to announce, 



THE FALL OF TLLE ALA.VO. 133 

The daughter Bradburn means to make my favor 
The stepping-stone for Travis' liberty. 
Finely designed that plot ! alas, too finely; 
Its meshes tear; my coarser woof is better, 
Whose iron threads and seams will last a life-time. 

\_E /iters Cos ] 
Cos. 
The batteries are nigh ready. I have come 
To herald the advent of Colonel Bradburn, 
Who 'gainst thy order and express command 
Was on the point of entering his tent, 
When intercepted by thy aid-de-camp. 

Santa Anna. 
How good my timely caution ! But for that 
We should have lost the honor of his stay 
Among us, which shall now be guaranteed 
By bonds as fast as human art can make them. 

Scene V. 
Enters Brjijur/i, /jIIjiujJ by C.istrilloii. 
Santa Anna. 
Well, Bradburn, back again at last; thy stay 
Was long enough to vouchsafe good success: 
When can we hold our entry in the fort ? 

Bradburn. 
When you have slain the last of its defenders. 



134 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Santa Anna. 

Is this — I ask — their whole reply? 

Bradburn. 

It is. 

Santa Anna. 

Well, man ! a school-boy's eloquence 

Could have succeeded where thy art has failed. 

Were not our hundred guns, our whelming numbers 

Convincing arguments enough to move 

The must tenacious rebel to submission ? 

Bradburn. 
What scares a knave stirs not a hero's blood. 

Santa Anna, 
And what of Travis ? , hast thou not essayed 
To unnerve his resistance by thy news ? 

Bradburn. 
Like inaccessible to bribe and threat, 
He scorned your promise and defied your vengeance. 

Santa Anna. 
But would thy daughter's promised hand not melt 
His stubbornness as wax before the sun ? 

Bradburn. 
With nought but deep contempt he heard my offer. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 135 

Santa Anna. 

Is that the love Miss Bradburn thinks so much of? 
I doubt, if still she will appreciate it. 

Bradburn. 

I know that all the more she will esteem 
His fortitude and noble sacrifice. 

Santa Anna. 

Was there perchance some sign that they awaited 
More lenient terms and offers of surrender ? 

Bradburn. 

Firm as a rock, their only expectation 
Appeared a hero's death, a martyr's crown. 

Santa Anna. 
In this respect we are relieved from doubt 
Which will facilitate our future course. 
This to determine be our present task. 
And as thy mission, Colonel Bradburn, gave 
Thee an. advantage over us to form 
A fixed opinion, let us hear from thee 
What thou consider'st as thy best advice. 

Bradburn. 
Your Excellency have not misjudged my mind ; 
Although I fear me that my counsel will 
Offend your ears and rouse your indignation. 



136 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Santa Anna. 
Devoted service, true fidelity 
Views less the wishes than the happiness 
Of him who seeks advice, e'en at the pain 
Of suff'ring for his kindly-given aid. 
Relying on our generosity, 

Which has not learnt in vain how to distinguish 
The person from his office, speak thy boldest. 

Bradburn. 
So be it then ! and may the influence 
Of Heaven inspire my tongue to touch your heart. 
'T be far from me to shield or to defend 
The people who conjured this insurrection 
By armed resistance 'gainst the commonwealth, 
The ballot's patience was their proper course. 
But still I doubt, if force and violence 
Be yet the best, the most appropriate means 
To lead them back to their accustomed duty. 

Santa Anna. 
What other way wouldst thou commend to us ? 

Bradburn. 
You have asserted your authority. 
And shown your power they never can defeat. 
So make it known, that, if they will abandon 
Their rash revolt and henceforth will abide 
In peace and law, in loyalty and faith. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO, 1 3/ 

Their wilful acts for once will be condoned, 
Their grievances relieved, their rights ensured. 

Santa Anna. 
And would our clemency and kind forbearance 
Not be interpreted as fear and weakness ? 
Or can the dignity of our Republic 
Afford to be insulted by a band 
Of most ungrateful foreigners to whom 
We gave the benefit of settling here ? 

Bradburn. 
Revenge is low in Man as well as State. 

Santa Anna. 
*T\s justice to restrain the bad by force. 

Bradburn. 
*Tis useful oft to overlook a fault. 

Santa Anna. 
'Tis iviser oft to kill an evil's germ. 

Bradburn. 
'Tis more humane to cure it than to kill it. 

Santa Anna. 
What warrants their obedience in the future ? 

Bradburn. 
Its guaranty should rather come from you. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Santa Anna. 
1 long to hear thee prove thy argument. 

Bradburn. 

What caused this insurrection ? what has filled 
The heart of every honest Mexican 
With sorrow and disgust ? The overthrow 
Of what he deemed his costHest possession, 
His constitution, through your agency. 
Would you behold this land restored to peace, 
To rise, to flourish, render up your power 
And leave your fellow-citizens to mould, 
Perfect, enjoy their rights of Liberty. 

Santa Anna. 

Yes, Liberty ! that is the hue and cry, 

That is the cloak of rogues and demagogues. 

Who 'neath the word's great meaning wish to hide 

The littleness of their corrupt desires. 

A nation must be ripe for Liberty. 

Inevitably as children come to grief 

When left without a guide, so will a people. 

What was the former state of Mexico ? 

Ere I reluctantly agreed to take 

Into mine hand the reins of government ? 

'Twas anarchy, disorder, lawlessness. 

What is it now ? The roads, alive before 

With robber-bands, are safe for travel now, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1 39 

Trade, nigh extinct, again bestirs its craft; 
Our Catholic faith, almost ignored, despised, 
Anew has triumphed over heresy. 
So tutored, disciplined and educated, 
Our people will h^ free — not otherwise. 

Bradburn. 

And yet your school's first principle is this: 
That one 7nay do what others are forbidden. 

Santa Anna. 
That one can do what others can not do. 
This is no law of mine — throughout the realm 
Of nature, on the sky, upon the earth, 
Uncommon strength and talent vault the bounds 
By which the mean, the weak are hedged around. 
As goes the radiant comet's flaming path 
Athwart the planets' even orbits, — so 
A great mind will not brook the narrow lists 
Of every day's constraint and common usage. 

Bradburn. 
This is quite true, but tell : what mind is great .'' 
Is he, who mocking and despising all 
That is esteemed as venerable and holy, 
Lays his bold hand on mankind's choicest treasures 
And desecrates its feelings' sanctuary ? 
Can he be great, who, like a tempest-blast, 
Draws his ambition's chariot o'er the nations. 



I40 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

And smites them with his passion's sceptred staff? 
Or is it he, who, like a vernal sun, 
Emerges from the dawn of human kind, 
And, rising higher, clears away the vapors 
Of prejudice and error that oppress it, 
By his example's genial warmth and light ; 
x\nd when at last he sets, forever leaves 
His radiant mem'ry's blissful evening-glow 
Upon the sky of human history ? 

Santa Anna. 
These are chimeras; strength and force alone 
Improve mankind; what higher names than those 
Of Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon ? 

Bradburn. 
There is one higher still, the name of one 
Who steadfast, hopeful in the greatest trials, 
Achieved his country's freedom by his sword, 
And having sheathed it, rendered up his power 
In spite of tempting offers and requests, 
But never ceased by sacrificing service 
And true advice to found his country's welfare : 
The first in War — in Peace — and in the hearts 
Of all his countrymen — George Washington. 

Santa Anna, 

\^Stammering with embarrassment^ 

George Washington ! — Ha, ha ! — George Washington ! 

He is — he was — \^Abruptly^ Cos, answer thou for me ! 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. I4I 

Cos. 
Forgive, I listed not. 

Santa Anna. 

Then thou, Castrillon ! 

Castrillon. 
I know but little of his history. 

Santa Anna. 
[ With deterf?iinationJ\ 
The better a reply /have to give. 

[^He taps the bell on the table. Enters Almonte with four 
soldiers^ 

Almonte. 
Arrest this man ! 

Bradburn. 

For what ? I pray thee, tell ! 

Almonte. 
For treason, Bradburn, and disloyalty ! 
So list: [^Reads^ Whereas in eighteen thirty-two 
The Fort of Anahuac without cause. 
Was treacherously surrendered to the foe 
By its commander, Colonel Bradburn : Therefore 
You are herewith empowered to arrest 
Said Bradburn and to hold in durance vile 
His person till adjudged by martial court. 



142 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Bradburn. 
\Calmly?^ 
That charge is false. What judge has signed the war- 
rant ? 

Santa Anna. 
That charge is true: thy lips, thy words refute 
The protestations of thy innocence. 

[ With scornful 7?iockery?\^ 
It pains me deeply to behold a schemer 
Of thy perfection overmatched, but then : 
A novice will at times outwit a master. 

Bradburn. 

[Defiantly.'] 
Now, tyrant ! I discern thy perfidy, 
Thy tiger-heart, that prompted thee to have 
Thy game with me, whom long ago thou hadst 
Marked out for victim of thy cruelty. 
Well I deserve my fate, for I was warned. 

Santa Anna. 
[As above.] 
Thou seest that 7tow j we, too, though long ago, 
Saiii through thy mask, saw thy designs at treason, 
Saiu every step of thine. 

[Stepping close before Bradburn, tvith a sneer.] 
Who sa7a the best ? 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO, 143 

Bradburn. 
[ With dignity. ~\ 
You saw, because you so designed to see ! 
Still you saw wrofig ! Although my inmost feelings 
Long since rebelled against your tyranny, 
My wicked Will enforced my hand and reason 
Into your service with imperious lash. 
For thirteen years they served you faithfully; 
For thirteen years until this very day 
They have unwaveringly sustained your cause; 
For thirteen years they fought your outward battles, 
Yet none of you beheld my inward feuds, — 
How every day anew my Heart arose 
Against my Will's tyrannical oppression, 
How every day it bleedingly succumbed, 
And groaned and ached with sorrow and despair. 

[ Triumphantly ^^ 
To-day ! — and not until to-day, — my Heart 
Has conquered, and from its joyful shrine, 
Comes up the shout of Victory and Triumph. 
Roused by the sight of genuine glorious manhood, 
Inspired by the thrill of heroism. 
Enchanted by the words of truth that came 
From the defenders of the Alamo, 
My heart arose, threw off its chains and fetters, 
And made me what I am — 

{^Striking his breast with noble pride^ 



144 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

A Man — a Man — 
A Man resolved to stand by Truth and Right, 
A Man prepared for torture and for death, 
A Man before whose open brow and eye 

• [ JVif/i the utmost defiance.^ 
Thou quailest, tremblest in the height of power. 
To-day — though in thy hands — I am thy master ; 
To-day — though in thy bonds — I am thy victor; 
To-day, though none would change his lot for mine, 
/would not give my lot for — tyrant! — thine. 

Santa Anna. 

[/« great rage^ 
Away with him to prison and to chains 
And hold him so, witness to our success, 
Until at Anahuac we arrive. 
So that the scene that saw his first attempt 
At treason also see his punishment. 

Bradburn. 

[Prophetically^ 

At Anahuac, sayst thou, Anahuac ? 

Yes, thou art right: — //;^/is the judgment spot, 

That is the place where will the voice of God 

With thundering tone proclaim: " So far, no farther,' 

That is the place where soon His hand will shake 

The hour-glass in the eye of tyranny. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 145 

Santa Anna. 

\Ghastly pale., fi'antic with rage.^ 
Away with him, I ordered. He annoys me. 

Bradburn. 

[Conducted from the tciit by the soldiers and folloived by 
Cos, Castrillon and Almonte, while going out, raises 
his arms to Heaven and calls out in a tone of heart- 
rending despair .•] 

Oh, Elsie, Elsie ! God protect thee now ! 

Santa Anna. 

[Highly disconcerted^] 
What means that fool } — I understood him not, 
And yet his words spoiled all my pleasure's joy, 
And thrilled throughout my frame with shuddering 

force. 
While his reproach and his inane defiance 
Could not affect my sensibility. 

What could he mean ? — Pooh, pooh, it was the rage, 
The madness of discomfiture, nought else. 
So let us go and see if our converse 
With her, his daughter, will succeed tlie better. 
[Taking his hat and sword, Santa Anna leaves the tent.'] 



146 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Scene VI. 

The Mission of Concepcion^ situated near San Antonio. 
The stage represents on one side a narroiv cori'idor 
running toward the rear and flanked on both sides 
by the cells, which formerly the Fadres inhabited. 
In the rear of the corridor, where a narrow hall- 
way joins the former at right angles, stands an altar 
in a niche. The front of the stage represe?its a 
plainly furnished room, with a door leading into the 
corridor!^ 

A Mexican soldier on guard paces up and dozvn the 
corridor. When Santa Anna arrives, he takes his 
station opposite to the above-mentioned door, and pre- 
sents arms. 

Santa Anna. 

Art thou the sentry o'er the prisoner Travis ? 
Soldier. 

I am, Your Excellency. 

* Plan of the above. 

Front of the stage. 



Door. 



Door. 

ri Table. 



Corridor in the rear of the stage. 
A 1 1 ar ._ 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1 47 



Santa Anna. 

So tell the lady 
Who now attends on him, that I request 
Within this room a brief converse with her. 
That done, re-lock the captive's room and bring 
The keys to me, in case I should desire 
An interview with him ; then go from hence 
To notify my aid-de-camp Almonte, 
Forthwith to ope the fiercest cannonade. 

\_Santa Anna enters the 7'oom. The soldier^ turnings tin- 
locks the door behind him, through which he disap- 
pear s?\ 

So I am rid of each unpleasant witness, 

And the bombardment, now to be begun, 

Appropriately will lend to my request 

Its force and eloquence. But hark, she comes. 

Scene VII. 

Elsie, followed by the soldier, emerges from the room the 
latter had entered, and having crossed the hall-7C'ay, 
steps into the room, where Santa Anna is aivaiting 
her. At a sign of the latter, the soldier puts the keys 
upon the table, standing near the door, and this done, 
departs to execute his GeneraVs order. 

Elsie. 
Your Excellency, no doubt, have been apprised 



148 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Through General Ahiionte of the joy 

As well as of the weight of obligation, 

Bestowed upon me by your favor's grace. 

Still I rejoice, that by your presence here 

I am allowed so early an occasion 

Self to express my thankfulness, a pleasure 

Which deputies and interval of time 

Will oft divest of half its value's charms. 

I must confess, that after our discourse, 

Revealing, as it did, the yawning gulf 

That lies between our innermost convictions. 

My hope was faint, to see my prayer fulfilled. 

Diversity of views too oft engenders 

In e'en the best, aversion of the heart. 

It is the mark of generosity, 

Of highest liberality to keep 

The sentiments of heart and mind apart 

And to accord its due to each of them. 

Therefore allow me now to reinforce 

The weak expression of my thankfulness 

By the apology for my mistake. 

Santa Anna. 

As oft a flattering gift will honor more 

The donor's heart which swells with gratitude. 

Unselfish, freely given, than the receiver's, 

Whose merit after all is doubtful, — so 

The praise, Miss Bradburn, you conferred on me 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 149 

Bears witness less to iny deserving claim 
Than to the innate kindness oi your heart. 
How void of every good, how selfish then 
Must be the man on whom such heart bestowed 
Its highest prize, its love, but whose conceit 
— As lightly as he would a worthless pebble, — 
Prompts him to cast aside a costly jewel, 
For which the greatest king would envy him. 

Elsie. 

No doubt, 't is Travis whom your speech points out, 

And who, as from your hints I may infer. 

Has with contempt flung back, from where it came, 

The shameless proposition to surrender 

The Alamo. Grant me to say, that even, 

Before my father started for the fort, 

I prophesied his mission's uselessness, 

As Travis never, never would surrender. 

Santa Anna. 

It is not this alone what he refused. 

Though chiefly meant for our Republic's good, 

My offer's liberality designed 

No less jw/r welfare 2cc\^ your happiness, 

Since through your father I held out to him 

Your hand, together with a princely dower. 

My honest counsels wrecked against his pride 

And stubborn will. 'T is plain, he loves you not. 



ISO THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Elsie. 
Your well-meant kindness and concern for me 
Bring me more deeply still into your debt, 
Although I cannot help confess to you : 
If Travis had availed him of your offer, 
Had proven a traitor to his country's hopes, 
Your reckoning had been made without a host. 
Since my consent you never would have gained. 
But why converse of things impossible. 
As Travis never will disgrace him so ? 
His very love for me, inseparably 
Blent with his honor and his zeal for freedom. 
Has caused him to reject your proffered terms. 
So blame him not. Though nothing can enhance 
My love for him, his present fortitude 

\^Fervidly.\ 
Nigh tempts me to adore him like a god. 

Santa Anna. 

lAside:\ 
Our first assault, I see, has been repulsed, . 
The better then our second may succeed. 

\^At this moment the dull imports of cannon^ indicating the 
conDiiencement of the bombardment, are heard in the 
distance. Elsie becomes prof oundly excited. 

[A/ond.] 

Hear you those guns ? they mean your lover's death, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 151 

The overthrow of all your earthly hopes ; 
For hardly can the forteress long resist 
Our cannon-balls' persuasive arguments. 
And still, Miss Bradburn, still it lies with you, 
By one, one single utterance of your lips 
To hush those deadly thunders into silence, 
And vouchsafe all the benefits of life 
To the defenders of the Alamo. 

Elsie. 
A word from me } Oh, tell ! how I can save them ? 

Santa Anna. 

I am informed, you know a hidden way, 

— Yes, yes, you know, — I read it in your eye — 

That underground leads to the Alamo. 

Elsie. 
\Nobly^^ 

Has Santa Anna's height and grandeur stooped 
To low and despicable spionage, 
Then I, wea-k woman as I am, will not 
Descend to falsehood — Yes, I know the way. 



Santa Anna. 

For reasons of the State and Strategy 
Man oft is forced to condescend to means 
He loathes to employ in private life. 



152 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Elsie. 
Heaven then forefend to be a man of State. 

Santa Anna. 

To save the terrors of the cannonade, 

The bloodshed of the storm, the loss of time, 

We must possess your secret. To reward 

Your revelation, I agree to grant 

The self-same terms and offers of surrender 

As hitherto I offered to the rebels. 

Madmen they were, if seeing them astride 

On a volcano's brink, whose fiery womb 

Is pregnant with the threats of instant death. 

They still persisted to reject my offer, 

Elsie. 

You are deceived ; no form, no garb of death, 

Save that of shame, has terrors for the brave. 

But why again discuss a likelihood 

Whose call to life my stout resolve precludes ? 

You ask me to reveal the hidden way : 

My only answer is : I never shall. 

Santa Anna. 

Not even to redeem your lover's life } 

Elsie. 

Not even to redeem my lover's life. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. I 53 

Santa Anna. 

The second time my scheme has failed, but wait : 
I have some better cards still in reserve. 

^Aloud?^ 
Misfortunes hunt in company — so says 
The proverb, Lady Bradburn; hence defend 
Your mind with fortitude — 

Elsie. 

\^[nterrupting him?^ 
What must I hear ? 
Santa Anna. 

\^Confi/n/uig his speech?^ 
And let not rest your undeserved displeasure 
On the unwilling bearer of the news. 

Elsie. 
Oh, pray ! relieve me of my dread suspense. 

Santa Anna. 
So hear ! By orders sent from Mexico, 
On evidence obtained I know not how, 
Your father stands committed to arrest, 
Arraigned for treason and disloyalty. 

Elsie. 
That charge is false — false as a gem of paste. 
No subject was so truly, ah ! so blindly 



154 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Devoted to the service of your State, 
Oh, father ! why, 7vhy wouldst thou not receive 
Thy daughter's warning voice, her fervid prayer, 
Three years, ah, e'en three hours ago ? Now lies 
The glorious city of thy golden dreams 
Invaded, conquered, pillaged and destroyed, 
While I, thy daughter, must, Cassandra-like, 
Roam wailingly the ruins of thy Troy. 

Santa Anna. 
I self am bound to say, that hitherto 
My credence in your father's loyalty 
Has been as firm as your belief ; and loath 
To do him wrong, I have delayed the order 
For his arrest, till when on his return 
A while ago his words, ah! proved too well 
Of his conversion to the rebel-cause, 
So openly he spake in its behalf. 

Elsie. 
[Stidde?ily transgressing from deepest despair to highest 

joy.] 
He has ? My father has ? Deceive me not ! 
He has defended Freedom's rights, you say ? 

Santa Anna. 
No rebel steeped in disaffection's venom 
Could have pronounced a more seditious speech 
To shock our outraged ears, than he ! 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. I 55 

Elsie. 
[ With great fervor.^ 

Oh, joy ! 
Oh, sunny glimpse upon my mistwrapt sky ! 
Oh, star of hope amid my woeful night ! 
Faint though thou be, I bless thy welcome light ! 

Santa Anna. 



My game — I fear me — has gone wrong again. 



{Aside.'] 
[Aloud.] 



Our laws 'gainst treason are severe and harsh, 

And one important service can alone 

Unfasten Colonel Bradburn's prison-door. 

If would his daughter's love, as duty-bound, 

Off-set her father's clearly-proven guilt 

By parting with her secret's treasured knowledge. 

Elsie. 

And she will not — ?iof — not ! though all of you, 

Though all the world hissed her with cries of shame,. 

E'en though her father, struggling on his knees, 

Craved from her lips the mercy of his life. 

A thousand years I gladly would endure 

— Could it be done — for him the dungeon's curse, 

A thousand times I fain would undergo 

For him the pangs of death; but never shall 

My country's weal and woe be jeopardized 



156 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

To remedy his sad mistake. Therefore 

I pray, forbear to tempt me more ; my choice 

Is made : my country's fate before my father's. 

Santa Anna. 

lAside?^ 
That trump is gone! now for my fourth and last. 

Miss Bradburn! all to whom I have referred, 
Although endeared to you by Nature's bonds 
Or choice of love, are others than yourself. 
But when you now arrive to contemplate 
Your own forlorn and unsafe station here, 
How you, without protectors, without friends, 
A self-confessed enemy of ours, 
Are compassed round by strangers and by foes, — 
Will you then not take pity on yourself.? 

Elsie. 
What I have prized and cherished most of all. 
My father, lover and my native land. 
Already are or soon will be your prey. 
What else on earth is left to me ? My life ? 
Oh, take it from me, and my dying breath 
Shall thank the hand that rid me of its burden. 

Santa Anna. 
Is e'en in peace a lonely woman's fate 
Exposed to danger, how the more in war ? 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. I 5/ 

Whose fiery breath fans every passion's flame, 

Whose very spirit fosters violence. 

Where lends the name of foe a welcome pretext 

To every crime, to robbery and rape, 

Where oft the reins of rigid discipline 

Must purposely be slackened to incite 

The animal propensities of man, — 

A woman, void of every guardian's care, 

A woman, known to be an enemy, 

Inevitably must fall a luckless victim 

To wicked lust — 

Elsie. 
[Falls on her knees, and imploringly holds up her hands.'] 

Oh, spare my womanhood ! 
Santa Anna. 

\Continning his speech^ 
And be the abject property of all ! 

Elsie. 

\_Struggling on her knees ^^ 
Knave ! Fiend ! now first thou stand'st revealed to me 
In thy true light ! Hast thou no fear of Heaven, 
Of retribution in the Life hereafter ? 

Santa Anna. 
[^Sneeringly.] 
That knave, that fiend rejoices in his power, 
And mocks the scorn of idle impotence, 



i;8 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



The more so, as his conscience fain acquits him 
Of guilt incurred for purposes of State. 
But, Lady Bradburn, are you ready now 
Your secret to reveal ? 

Elsie. 
[ Who all tJiis time has been lying as in a swoon. ^ 
[Faintly.] I will, I will ! 

Santa Anna. 

That is a word as pleases me to hear, 

And proves that Reason, from her seat dethroned 

By momentary self-forgetfulness 

In visionary illusions, has resumed 

Her wonted place and wields again her power; 

To tell the truth, it is what I expected 

When I came hither, for I hnoia too well 

The practical and innate common-sense 

Of all that hail from the United States. 

[Jle bows to lift Elsie up. She, in the act of 7' i sing, with 
a quick move, draws the sword-blade from Santa 
Anna's scabbard, and raises it on high, while Santa 
Anna, covering his eyes with his hands, reels back in 
utter dismay.] 

Elsie. 

[With the utmost contempt.] Thou knowest, tyrant.? 
[Triumphantly?^ No, thou knowest not ! 



THE FALL OF TILE ALAMO. I 59 

How e'en the tiny worm is given a sting 
For sore distress, a weapon of defence, 
Which, weak and harmless though it even be, 
Kind Nature's hand, protectress of us all. 
Will help him aim and guide with deadly dart 
'Gainst the Achilles-heel of his tormentor — 

\^As above.'] 

Thou kfwwest, tyrant ? No, thou knowest not, 

How Faith and lamb-like Patience meekly bow 

To every hardship, every sacrifice, 

Enduring pangs of body and of soul, 

But also rise with more than giant's strength, 

With all-regardless, all-renouncing power, 

When, outraged in their holy sanctuary, 

Their feelings blend in one impassionate flame — 

[As above] 
Thou knowest. tyrant ? No, thou knowest not, 
How woman, tender woman, under tears, 
Shed in her closet's silence, under prayers, 
O'erheard by none save God, will long defer 
To break the hallowed peace of her reserve, 
To lay her bosom's tender feelings ope 
To chilly blasts of worldly sneer and scorn, 
But when at last confronted by the choice. 
The fiendish choice, 'twixt virtue and disgrace, 
Will fling aside the fetters of her doubts, 
Shake off the shackles of her self-restraint. 



l6o THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

And like a lioness, of her off-spring robbed, 
Unheeding wounds and death, obey alone 
The holy law of Nature : Self-defence ! 

[ With sublimity^ 
All this thou knowest not, — wilt never know, 
As not for thee this wisdom's fountains flow, 
As not for thee this comfort's breezes blow, 
As not for thee these blessings bloom and grow. 
A lonesome, arid desert is thy breast, 
Whom parching, withering fervors keep opprest, 
Whom poisonous winds, fierce hurricanes infest, 
Whom scares the mocking mirage from its rest. 
The pleasing change of hue and sound and light 
Whose seasons make the pious heart's delight, 
Refreshes not thy passion's dreary sight, — 
Thy only change comes through the Earthquake's 

might ! 
Yea! tremble, man! thy earthquake is at hand, 
When outraged Nature, rising fierce and grand, 
With one accord will wreck what thou hast planned, 
And wipe thy labors' vestige from the land! 
All save thy name! that, that alone shall last, 
And like a stranded vessel's towering mast. 
Shall overtop the billows of the Past, 
A warning voice 'gainst wild Ambition's blast. 
\^Taking tJie keys from the table, Elsie, Santa Anna's sword 

in hand, leaves the room, which she locks behind her. 

Crossing; the corridor, she unlocks the room in which 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. l6l 

Ja?nes Travis lies, and standing at the iJweshold, calls 
out to him ;] 

Awake, James Travis! rise and follow me! 

My hand shall guide thy steps to liberty! 

\^James Travis^ weai'ing still the bandages round his 
head., comes from his room and stands like one over- 
come by a trance^ 

James Travis. 

Angel! that soothed my fever's agony, 

Where'er thou leadest me, I follow thee! 

[ While Elsie and James Travis are proceeding to the 
rear of the corridor, Santa Anna, hitherto lost in a 
faint stupor, starts for the door, ivhich he tries in vain 
to force open?\^ 

Santa Anna. 
[ With violence^ 
Confound these monks ! what they have built, with- 
stands 
The wear of times and strength of stoutest hands. 
yWhile Santa Anna, in the meantifne, looks for another 
7c>aj' of egress, Elsie and J. Travis reach the altar in 
the back-ground of the corridor. Sta?iding behind it,] 

Elsie. 

l^Calls out .•] 
Here is the entrance to the corridor 
That leads the way to Freedom's hallowed shore. 



1 62 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Father! forgive me, if I leave thee now, 

My own defence absolves me from my vow. 

My sole protection now lies, — where I go, — 

With William Travis in the Alamo. 

YHaving raised the altar-cloth^ Elsie and James Travis 
disappear betieath it. Santa Anna, finding his 
efforts unavailing, resigns himself to his fate ^^ 

Santa Anna. 

Curse, curse on every mercy-tempered deed ; 
It carries in itself its failure's seed ! 
Curse, curse on each concession to regards 
Of sex and worldly usage; it discards 
Half of the spirit's energy and power, 
And lowers the bold to creatures of the hour. 
If thou must be a devil, be it whole. 
Or else give up thy aspiration's goal. 
But list! a step ! it is the sentinel! 

\Knockijig against the door, he calls aloud .•] 
Quick! ope the door, unlock my prison-cell! 

YThe soldier is seen coming through the corridor.^ 
Haste, haste thee, man! thy blood, thy life shall pay 
For every moment lost through thy delay! 
[ The soldier takes the keys from the door where Elsie had 

left them and unlocks the room in zuhich Santa Anna 

is. The latter exclaims eagerly ;] 

Where are they, speak ? 



THE FALL OF THE AL.AMO. I 6 



Soldier. 

Whom mean Your Excellency ? 
Santa Anna. 
The girl! — thy prisoner! — they are gone and free. 

Soldier. 
None, none I saw. 

Santa Anna. 

Then look and search about, 
While I arouse the camp entire to scout 
All o'er the neighborhood with man and hound; 
The fugitives! — they must, they must be found! 
\Santa Anna starts to go, slowly followed by the soldier J\ 
Soldier. 

Your Excellency have left your sword behind; 
Shall I return to find it ? 

Santa Anna. 

Never mind. 
\_Sudde7ily turning and collaring the soldier with frantic 

rage.] 
Rogue ! Knave ! Choke down into thy throat the word 
Thou spakest just ! for in it I have heard 
The sneers of ages and the scoffing voice 
Of generations, as their hearts rejoice 
O'er my defeat ! [J?oari7ig.] Hast heard what I have 
said ? 



164 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Soldier. 

\Gasping for breath.'\ 
Yes, yes ! 

\^Santa Anna tmloosens his grasp and goes away.^ 
His Excellency has sure gone mad ! 

[^£xi^ .' o/t/ier.] 

Scene VIII. 

T/ie Chapel of the Alamo, darkened but illuminated from 
without by the glare of the rockets, indicating the 
bombard?nent. The divine service, held there for the 
last ti?ne, is Just being concluded by the soldiers, who, 
lying on their knees, intune the 

PRAYER BEFORE BATTLE.* 
I. 

Forsake me not! when shadows lie around me, 

When Night and Darkness everywhere hold bound me, 

When peril's gloom has fallen to my lot : 

Thou Fount of Light ! Forsake, forsake me not ! 

2. 
Forsake me not ! when tempest-clouds assemble. 
And cause the ground beneath my feet to tremble, 
When round me raves the battle fierce and hot : 
Offspring of Peace ! Forsake, forsake me ?iot I 
* For the tune of this Hymn see page 245. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 165 

3. 

Forsahc me not ! when thunders rumble o'er me, 
When Hghtnings send their quivering darts to gore me, 
When round me hiss the bolts of shell and shot : 
Thou Haven of Rest ! Forsake^ forsake me 7iot! 

4. 

Forsake me not ! Oh, God of my abidance. 
Into Thine hand, child-like, I trust my guidance, 
When smit to death, I lie on dreary spot: 
God of my Hope ! Forsake^ forsake me not ! 
[ The hy77in having been co7ichided^ there reigns a profound 
silence for a brief time, during which the soldiers, 
still on their knees, are absorbed in prayer. Then 
the meeting breaks up. Travis and Crockett come to 
the foreground, where Bowie lies on a couch, wJiile 
the volunteers take leave from each other, or look 
after their arms.] 

Bowie. 
What are thy dispositions for the storm ? 

Travis. 
Alas ! they are but few ! The bayonet 
Remains our last resort, since our supply 
Of lead and iron, wherewith we might perhaps 
Still have repelled the enemy's assault. 
Has been exhausted in the fort's defence. 
The powder's store alone has still remained 



1 66 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

A steady friend in our misfortunes : this 
Ignited by thine hand, who canst not join 
Our last exploit, shall light our way to heaven. 

Bowie. 
Thanks, Travis ! that thy tender thoughtfulness 
Assigned to me, disabled as I am, 
This office in the Alamo's defence. 

Travis. 
By my command the channels have been laid 
Through which the fiery element shall crawl 
With lightning's speed, and leave no stone unturned; 
None save this chapel ! Towering o'er the ruins. 
It be the likeness of our destiny. 
That testifies with silent eloquence: 
As it survives the Alamo's debris, 
So shall our fame outlive our overthrow. 

\_E titers Major Evans.\ 

Evans. 
The Alamo lies open to the foe : 
The northern side has fallen, and the eastern gate 
Is swaying more and more with every shot. 
Our faithful walls, which long withstood, at last 
Have bowed their heads and sunk as heroes sink. 
To us is left to follow their example. 

Travis. 
Yes, valiant friend ! that is what we shall do. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1 6-/ 

So soon I have addressed our men once more, 
Thou, Crockett, wilt conduct them hence, while I 
Confer a while with Bowie yet and Smith. 

[Tur/ii/ig to the men, who fall into order, he addresses 
them .-] 

The hour has dawned on us, my faithful comrades. 

When we must stride to our last earthly task. 

Our walls have sunk that spread their shielding arms 

Around this sanctuary of Liberty. 

Shall then her sacred fane lie ope and bare 

To the profaning hand of Tyranny ? 

No, no ! as we have sworn, so let our lives 

Be Freedom's bulwark. Freedom's forteress 

Whose fosse our opened veins shall fill with blood, 

Whose circling ramparts shall our bodies link, 

Whose garrison shall be our fearless hearts. 

Yet ere we leave this hallowed chapel-shrine, 

Whose walls alone have heard our vows and prayers, 

Whose eyes alone have seen our gallant deeds, 

Let us embody with its time-worn shrine 

The record of our joyful sacrifice, 

Of our devotion to the cause we cherish, — 

Yet not by writ or perishable stones, 

Or any signs, that may the hand of Time 

Efface or crumble; Immortality 

Can only be adorned by things spiritual. 

As longest in our memory abides 



1 68 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

The last word from some dear departing friend, 

So leave as keepsake to these chapel-walls, 

That hitherto so kindly sheltered us, 

Your song whereby they may remember you. 

\He henceforth speaks with a deep inspiration, luhich, ever 

rising, culminates in his last word ;] 
Here it will linger, spirit of this place, 
Wandering and whispering through its alley-ways, 
A melody, as when the vernal breeze 
Plays 'mid the branches of the new-leaved trees, 
As when ^Eolian harps, suspended there. 
Reecho from the Westwind's sighing air. 
Then oft some idle passer-by, in wonder 
About these notes, will shake his head and ponder; 
Then oft some tender maiden, when she hears 
These whisper-sounds, will feel some pearly tears 
Well from her silken lashes — till one day 
Upon his life's uncertain, checkered way, 
A swain will seat him there, a minstrel-bard. 
Scarce knowing what should here his feet retard. 
His lyre, his only friend, his only wealth, 
Rests in his hand; then floats, as if by stealth, 
Our song around him. See ! he starts ! he lists ! 
His spirit pierces through the secret's mists, 
His hearing, deaf to wordly lore and noise. 
But tutored well to Nature's inward voice. 
Has caught our song; e'en then on fluttering wing 
It trembles o'er his Ivre from string to string; 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1 69 

Confined no longer to this chapel-cell, 
It rises in the air, it breaks its spell. 
It spreads its wings for ever bolder flight, 
To ever greater height and deeper light; 
Till now, — as swells the wave from southern pole, 
As thunders through the airy spaces roll, 
As forest-brooks leap o'er their rocky steeps. 
As o'er the plain the roaring tempest sweeps, 
So loud, so wide, so mighty and so free, 
Through every race, through every century. 
Is borne our fame and glory — borne along 
Upon the pinions of our hero-song. 
Which from your lips the last time now will flow 
''''The glorious A?it/ie?n of the Ala/no ! " 
\_A 11 present now intune\ 

THE ANTHEM OF THE ALAMO.* 
I. 

When o'er our land the War-cloud drew 
And loudly Freedom's trumpet blew. 
We rushed to arms, resolved to be 
A citadel 'gainst Tyranny: 

Hence fear thee not, dear Texan Land, 

Thy safety lies in trusty hand ; 

For firm will stand 'gainst every foe 

Thy Vanguard of the Alamo ! 

* For the tune of this Hymn see page 245. 



I/O THE FALL OF 7'HE ALAMO. 

2. 
And now the Tempest sweeps the land 
With bloody sword and fiery brand; 
Yet, nought dismayed, the storm we brave^ 
And check the onslaught of his wave: 
Hence fear thee not, dear Texan Land, 
Thy safety lies in trusty hand ; 
For firm will stand 'gainst every foe 
T/iy Va7iguard of the Alamo ! 

3- 

Our task is done : the enemy's might 
Is crippled by our gallant fight. 
And the example we have set 
Thy sons not lightly will forget: 

Hence fear thee not, dear Texan Land, 
Thy safety lies in trusty hand, 
E'en though the foe should overthrow 
Thy Vanguard of the Alamo ! 

4- 
And when — all danger overpast — 
Proud Vict'ry smiles on thee at last, 
When laurel-twined, young, fair and strongs 
Thou stand'st thy sister-states among: 
Forget thou not, dear Texan Land, 
The grave-mounds of our little band, 
But gladden through thy trumpets' blow 
Thy Vanguard of the Alamo I 
[Curtain.] 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 17 



. ACT FOURTH. 

Scene I. 

Sajita Anna's tent. Santa Anna., asleep on a couch. 
Jose Prado, holding Santa Annas watch in his 
hand, stands near him. Enters Duqiie. 

DUQUE. 

Where is His Excellency ? 

Prado. 
[^Motioning to Diique to speak low, and leading him to the 
corner farthest remote from Santa Anna s couch. ^ 
Hush, hush! he sleeps. 
DuQUE. 
[Henceforth speaki?ig in whispers.^ 
Then wake him, for I must report to him. 

Prado. 
Is your report then of so urgent nature ? 

DUQUE. 

It is. Since twelve o'clock my men have searched 
To find the least trace of the fugitives. 
All fruitless — as if wafted in the air, 
As if engulfed by an abyss that closed 
Immediately its yawning gulf again, 



172 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

So trackless they have vanished out of sight 
And left us nought but soreness and fatigue. 

Prado. 

Unlucky news comes alway soon enough; 
Why then allow its gloomy pinions' beat 
To scare away the blessed boon of sleep ? 

DUQUE. 

My men are ordered to participate 
In the attack ; they ought to be recalled 
From fruitless efforts to restore their strength 
For the assault by brief repose at least. 
That is the purport of my coming here. 

Prado. 
I dare not rouse His Excellency before 
The time he set, still fifteen minutes hence. 
His angry mood, swelled by the disappointment 
Of your report and loss of soothing sleep, 
Would magnify my little breach of order 
Into a crime, whose penalty were death. 

Santa Anna. 
\Moving restlessly on /its couch, and speaking aloud in /lis 

sleep. ^ 
Where leadest me ? 

DuQUE. 

He wakes. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1/3 

Prado. 
No, no, he dreams, 
For he is wont to speak aloud in sleep. 

Santa Anna. 
[ With a hollow twice and movements of his body^ 7vhich 
reflect the horrors of his dream. ^ 

What dreary region hast thou brought me to } 

My erring eye roams, like a wanderer 

Who lost his way, with painful, insane glance 

Across the desert waste, and vainly seeks 

A house, a tree, a hill to rest upon 

'Mid this immense and dread monotony. 

The yellow sands, commixed with glistening gold. 

Which, scarce elsewhere and deeply hidden, here 

With mockery offers to the crazed traveler, 

Dying with thirst, its kernels for refreshment. 

Send flashing shocks of fever-heated pain 

Throughout my frame, as if below the ground, 

Thin like a sheet, there lay a glowing oven. 

And, oh ! these sunlight-fervors ! how my brain 

Reels, boils and bakes beneath their fiery power ; 

How through my swollen veins I feel my blood 

Seethe like a stream of liquid metal ore ! — 

Has come the Day of Judgment, speak ! my guide ? 

Woe, woe to me ! he left me here alone 

Amid this desert : 1 must die with thirst. 

My wealth, my might for one, one drop of water ! — 



174 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

'T is all in vain ! — but no, there, over there 

A hollow lies — a glen — a deep ravine — 

There runs a brook ; quick, quick, ere burst my veins. 

E'en now I can behold the sun's reflex 

Upon its waters; onward, ever onward ! — 

Ah ! — it is blood, — red blood, red human blood 

Whose purple tide rolls shattered limbs and skulls 

And glaring weapons from a battle-field. 

How they do toss and strive, these ghastly bones. 

As if the combat's wrath were still in them ! 

There floats a snow-white arm; how it extends 

Its fingers ! ah ! it grasps, it seizes me; 

Away from out these horrors' sight, away ! 

DUQUE. 

I pray thee, wake him: e'en to hear his dream. 
To see him writhe, congeals my blood with terror. 

Prado. 
I cannot, will I not incur his wrath; • 
He oft dreams so. See, he begins anew. 

Santa Anna. 
\_Lahoring under still more violent convulsions than 

bcfore!\ '^'- ■ 
Ha ! still I live ! What change in me and nature ! 
Instead of stifling heat, as erst, now creeps 
An icy chill through every limb of mine, 
While over me a midnidit-blackness veils 



THE FA LL OF THE ALAMO. 1/5 

TTie burning sky and blinds the sunlight's blaze. 

A hurricane it is, a Texan Norther: 

What roar of awe comes from the giant's mouth, 

How toss his skirts, how writhe his hands and arms 

To grasp the earth and me in his embrace. 

A sulphurous scent and smoke of burning towns 

Is wafted in his suffocating breath. 

Only too true my fear has proved; there, there 

On the horizon's marge ascends a cloud, 

Which, like the Milky Way upon the sky, 

And like the Gulf- Stream's current, holds apart 

In hue, velocity and temperature. 

Its blood-red tide amid that jet-black main. 

Nearer and nearer swells that avalanche 

Its waves of fiery glare and gloomy mist; 

But woe ! the vapors are the trailing skirts 

Of shadows swimming in the upper air. 

Which, as they pass my zenith, more and more 

Assume the ghastly likenesses of men, 

Dark-featured, frowning, haggard, livid, pale. 

Bedecked with gaping wounds and bloody gore, 

And mingled with them prisoners hung with chains, 

Which, going by, they clang into my ears. 

And headless figures, warrants in their hands, 

Which savagely they shake before mine eyes, — 

While midway through the dismal train and borne 

Upon the pinions of that flaming stripe, 

There sweeps a file of women, wan with fear, 



176 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Crazed with despair, with hollow cheeks and eyes, 
Babes on their arms and children at their side, 
Pointing their long, thin fingers down at me. 
Oh, oh ! were but the grim procession o'er ! 

It is, it is ! there flashes from beneath 

The storm-cloud's folds the first ray of the sun. 

Another, still another. [ With ecstasy^ Welcome, Light ! 

But can this really be the sun ? Oh, no ! 

[ With horror.^ The bright reflex of lightning-bolts it is, 

Which, starting from an unseen, far-off height, 

Grow every moment more in glare and strength 

And pierce the massive curtain of the storm. 

Distinct before, their flashes now are blent. 

And cross each other's pathways here and there; 

The thunder's voice, erst by the tempest drowned, 

Now shakes the very ground by constant roar. 

And nigher still sinks down the fiery orb 

Whence flow those lightning-bolts, — their source 

A golden chariot's red-hot wheels, whose spokes 

Whirl through the blinding light their fiery rounds, 

And from the chariot wave the ample robes 

Of One whose form and face are veiled from me 

'Mid all the brilliancy, that dims my sight ; 

Not so His will; for unrolled from His hand 

A radiant scroll floats downward evermore. 

Emblazed with fiery signs. Not yet I can 

D.scern them: — Now I can — the strange inscription 



THE FALL OF TI^E ALAMO. 1/7 

Reads : Afene, — Me/ie, — Tekel — Upharsiii ! ''' 

Where have I heard, where have I seen these words ? 

So let me think ! Think ? Woe ! I cannot think ; 

[ IVitJi the utmost horror. ] 
My brain is dizzed by agony of dread, 
As stands that igneous ball above my head, 
While swinging round that hurricane engirds 
The dazzling centre with its black-red skirts. 
And now from that corona 'mid the skies 
A thousand fingers point, — a thousand eyes 
Glare down at me, mute, yet how eloquent ! 
But what is that ? — round me the earth is rent 
By unseen hand — ah ! it has come, — no doubt, — 
The earthquake Elsie Bradburn spoke about, — 
The ground below me shakes — it opes — I gaze. 
Oh, horror ! deep into a fiery blaze, — 
Its flames lick up, \]ie holds his arm above him., as if to 

shield him,^ and now from overhead 
A quivering flash — I sink — I fall — [JFith a death-like 

gurgle?^ Dead — dead ! 
\He falls from the couch. Diique and Prado rini to his 
assistance., and raise him to a sitting position. His 
eyes stare from their sockets, his cheeks are ghastly 
file.^ 

Prado. 
Awake, Your Excellency ! 't was but ?. dream ! 
* Daniel V. 25. 



1/8 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Santa Anna. 
A dream ? A phantom ? No reality ? 

{^Shaking himself ^ he Jumps to his feet ^ 
Then Santa Anna is a man again ! 
Let me but feel my blood course through my veins, 
Let but my will control my nerves and powers, 
And I defy your spells, your whispered threats, 
Ye shadowy spirits from the Land of Dreams, 
Who like hyenas of the desert creep 
Into the camp-ground of our slumbering souls, 
But flee dismayed and cowardly, when, roused, 
We hold our reason's fire-brand to your eyes. 
What is the hour } 

Prado. 

Not far from two. 

Santa Anna. 

Then go 
And call my Generals. What wilt thou, Duque ? 

YExit Prado. ] 
Duque. 

I come to make report, that fruitlessly 
My men have searched since midnight to detect 
The faintest vestige of the fugitives. 
Santa Anna. 
Recall thy men and show us, if they do 
As blood-hounds better than they did as pointers. 

YExit Duque. '\ 
So after all that girl has baffled me, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1/9 

Whom with impunity no man has mocked ! 

It serves me right, since I let gallantry, 

The frailest of all frailties, turn aside 

For e'en one moment my established way. 

Might is a two-edged knife; when used in earnest, 

It wounds two foes; — but when in play, thyself. 

\^He7'e enter Cos, Castrillon and Alnionte7[ 
The fugitives have not been found, I hear; 
Be it decided then to storm the fort 
At break of day, two hours from hence. Meanwhile 
Let for some time the cannonade proceed 
As the courier that heralds our advent. 
Of this, thou, Cos ! take charge as hitherto ; 
Castrillon, thou wilt lead in the assault, 
While to thy task, Almonte, it will fall 
To take that traitor Bradburn where he can 
Best see the downfall of his rebel-friends. 
For battle-cry I chose my favorite word. 
Whose stirring call has oft accompanied 
My banner to success and fame : " Deguello ! 
No quarter given ! no mercy asked or shown ! " 
We have no time to spare for guarding captives 
For lengthy trials, for painful executions : 
A prudent man completes his task at once. 
So, Generals, depart ye hence and go 
To tell your gallant men, that Mexico 
Expects to-day to hear the overthrow 
And glorious conquest of the Alamo. \^Exeunt^ 



l8o THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Scene II. 

The Chapel of the Alamo. Colonel Win. Travis and 
Chaplain Smith standing near the altar. 

Travis. 
One, one more word ! niy last, my last to thee ! 
Thy post, dear friend, is at this holy altar. 
Not in the battle's van. Thou, thou alone, 
If spares the foe thy life, respects thy garb, 
Must outlive our destruction and become 
The messenger of our Thermopylae ! 

Smith. 
Oh, Travis ! let me fight and die with thee ! 

Travis. 
No, Reverend Sir ! a higher duty still 
More painful, more exalted far than ours, 
Devolves on thee. Our trial will be brief ; 
A minute's pang, scarce felt and we are gone, 
While thine will be a task of life-long grief. 
By virtue of my office I command thee 
To spare no pains, fear neither scorn nor death. 
So as to gain a Christian sepulture 
For our remains from the victorious foe. 
Mark well the spot where we are laid at rest, 
That it become a fane of pilgrimage 
To grateful and admiring patriots. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. l8l 

Who, when the trumpet-blast of victory- 
Hath sounded o'er our graves, wiH come to them 
With holy awe, as if they were inscribed 
With that most glorious epitaph of old : 
" Siste, viator, an heroem calcas : 
Stop, wand'rer, else thou treadest on a hero ! " 
And as none else but thou alone wilt be 
The last defender of the Alamo, 
So, too, defend by writ and speech our cause 
Hereafter, when our memory is assailed 
By slanderous and infamous detraction. 
This my behest to thee as thy commander, 
To which as friend I add this humble prayer: 
So soon thou canst, to hand this note of mine 
To Elsie Bradburn, where she ever be. 
To tell her, that my bosom's latest throb 
Will beat for her, that with her name endeared 
Upon my lips, my soul will soar to heaven. 
Wilt, friend, thou promise to fulfill these trusts ? 

Smith. 
I will, I will ! Oh, Travis, what a parting ! 

Travis. 
Thanks, thanks, my friend ! And now all earthly tasks 
Attended to, farewell, until we meet 
Before the throne of God in Heaven above. 
[ Trains embraces Smith with mute eijwtioii. Suddenly he 
tears himself from the Chaplaiiis arms, and 7C'ith his 



1 82 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

head bowed to the ground^ he speaks in breathless 
whispers /] 
Hark, hark ! Hast thou not heard this floor beneath 
Some hasting footsteps ? — There they are again — 
A secret passage-way must lie below — 
E'en now the sounds come nearer, ever nearer, — 
Are they the feet of friends, of enemies ? — 
They come up here — they mount a hidden stair — 
They raise a trap-door 'neath the altar-cloth — 
What means this mystery ? who can they be ? 
[^Motioning Smith to the chapel-door, Travis takes his 
position behind the altar, the sword in his right and 
the cocked pistol in his left, leveling it at the altar. 
The cloth with which the latter is covered is suddenly 
thrown back, a7id from beneath it Elsie and James 
Travis emerge. When Colonel Travis beholds them, 
he drops both sword and pistol, and with outspread 
arms rushes into their embrace?^ 

Scene HI. 
Colonel IVm. Travis — Elsie — James Travis — Chaplain 
Smith. The latter remains standing at the door, 
where tuith mute delight he overhears the conversation 
of the above. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
Oh, Elsie, Elsie ! Oh, my brother James ! 
How can it be ? It is a vision's dream ! 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 183 

Elsie. 

\^Lying in his embrace?^ 
No, Travis, no ! it is no phantom's spell. 
'T is I, thy Elsie, rendered back to thee ! 

James Travis. 
And it is I, 't is I, thy brother James, 
Who 'live and hale now lies in thy embrace. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
Oh ! God is good and over-merciful ! 

Elsie. 
Yes, Travis, yes ! 't is He whose wondrous hand 
Brought us together, nevermore to part ! 
Rememberest thou that with this self-same word 
Three years ago I bade thee trust in Him, 
That He through night and darkness, grief and trial, 
Would lead our love to glorious consummation ? 
^nd know'st thou still the subterranean way, 
To which on that occasion I alluded ? 
What then my lips, inspired unconsciously, 
What then my spirit, childlike-unaware, 
Proclaimed as hope-awakening allegory, 
Stands realized to-day before our sight. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
Oh ! had a dream, only a dream presented 
Before my slumbering soul this lovely image, 
That I should hold you both in my embrace, 



1 84 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

I should have deemed it all-too-fair a gift. 

And now, and now — I feel your bosoms throb 

'Gainst mine in joyful, neighborly response, 

I drink the life-warm ardor of your kisses, 

I hear the love-thrilled, touching tremolo 

Of both your voices, and my dazzled eye 

Reads in your" looks and on your glowing cheeks 

The true reflex of all that moves your hearts, 

While impotent to fathom yet the secret 

Of your arrival here, my thoughts stand still. 

James Travis. 

Thou errest, brother, if thou ween'st that I 

Can solve for thee this deep-mysterious riddle. 

For lo ! as sudden as it dawned on thee. 

Inexplicable, as it stands before 

Thy staggered mind, — so wondrous and so strange. 

It still enwraps viy own with dream-like spell. — 

Three hours ago I lay in dizzy sleep, 

In which appalling night and battle-smoke 

Spread o'er my feverish soul a somber sky, 

— As dark and dread as my impending fate — 

\Vhile demon-like, uncouth, gigantic shapes 

With hangman's features stretched their withered hands 

Up, up to me with ever closer grasp, — 

When in the cloud-wrapt back-ground of my dream 

Appeared a balmy, mellow-tinted light, 

That more and more shed throut^h the desert waste 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1 85 

A radiant glow and thrilled with grateful warmth 

E'en from afar my writhing, death-chilled heart. 

'T must thus have been, when first the smile of God 

With quickening breath beamed on chaotic realms ; 

Thus it will be, when from the shades of grave 

We first emerge into our Maker's presence. 

And with that light there came a melody 

Into my ear as of an angel-choir, 

So sweet, so soothing and so comfort-fraught, 

That, as at times we feel a healing draught 

Pervade our veins with instantaneous cure, 

So, so, forthwith these gentle accents poured 

Into my heart a current of relief. 

That soothed its pangs and calmed its agitation. 

Th^n, for a while, the charming apparition 

Withdrew from me, but as the setting sun 

Behind him leaves the purple-glow of eve 

And peace serene, — my feelings so remained 

Inspired with joy and radiant hopefulness. 

While thus I lay, as in a trance enchanted, 

A glaring light broke on my slumb'ring eye ; 

A fairy-vision stood my bed beside, 

Who spoke to me with strength-infusing voice : 

"Awake, James Travis, rise and follow me !" 

Through long and vaulted corridors we went, 

Until at last a frowning, narrow way. 

Through which we passed, meseemed for many hours, 

Has safely brought me to the arms of him 



lS6 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Than whom none else I longed to see once more. 

Admit then, brother, that my wonderment 

Can hardly be surpassed by thy surprise. 

The more as I behold the fair magician 

To whom I owe my strange deliverance, 

Beknown to thee, befriended, yea, related 

Through ties whose sweetness thou alone canst prize. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
Oh ! had a stranger, had an enemy 
Bestowed on me the service to restore 
My brother from the very jaws of death, 
I should have valued all that I possess 
Upon this world a poor reward for him. 
And now it is through — Elsie! thee, that I 
Receive him back, through thee who own'st my all. 
But tell me, pray, how lone and without aid 
Thou hast accomplished this unheard-of venture. 

Elsie. 
Oh, Travis ! why pronounce the fatal word, 
Whereby unconsciously thou opest anew 
The bleeding, aching wound, that scarce was sealed 
By the oblivion of a moment's bliss ? 
Alas ! as oft upon my gold-strung harp 
My fingers touch a chord of highest joy — 
I change one note, and, ah ! the saddest tone 
Conceivable strikes my astounded ear — 
So close, so near lie side by side the strings 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 18/ 

Of joy and grief on our lives' harpsichords. 

And yet, meseems, 't is better after all, 

That finds my sorrow in its utterance 

A slight relief, and in thy sympathy 

A soothing balm. So hear then my account. 

Knowing full well my stout fidelity 

To Texas and her cause, — suspecting, too. 

My father's loyalty, though without grounds, 

The tyrant must have had us watched by spies, 

Hid near our tent, to hear what there was spoken. 

When ere my father's journey to this fort 

I made a new but vain attempt (alas ! 

It proved the last !) to rouse his love of right, 

When on my knees I warned him 'gainst his friends 

And told him of the hidden passage-way 

Through which he yet could reach the Port of Honor, 

This our converse must have been overheard 

And brought to Santa Anna's ears. Meanwhile, 

Upon my prayer to tend thy brother James, 

The tyrant — under the pretence to grant it, 

But in reality to wrest from me 

Through threats and force my secret's dear possession, — 

Had me conducted to thy brother's cot 

In Mission of Concepcion. Fine his plan, 

Yet finer God's, who made the villain's scheme 

The instrument of my deliverance. 

For know, Concepcion is the very place 

Where lies the entrance to the hidden way. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Thither he came, intent on his design, 

And, oh ! the terrors of that dreadful hour, 

Tlie ever higher billows of distress 

That broke upon my aching, quivering heart. 

When — brazen like the statue of a god 

That hears not, feels not its petitioner's prayers, 

Stern like a rock, whose plumb and polished breast 

Rejects the drowning sailor's outstretched hand — 

The hard man stood before me firm and stark, 

Resolved to gain his end by every means, 

By every wile of diplomatic art, — 

When stroke on stroke and blow on blow the hammers 

Of his persuasive reasons fell upon 

My unprepared and unprotected heart, — 

When gradually he reinforced his praise 

By luring bribes, his bribes by calumny, 

His calumny by threats, his threats by sneers, — 

AVhen heeding not my tears, my agony. 

He staked thy life, my father's fate, my honor 

Upon the revelation of my sacred knowledge — 

Oh ! to describe this hour's experience 

My utt'rance fails me. Let this sabre speak 

I wrested from his scabbard, to what height 

Of bleak despair a woman may be driven. 

\^Elsie hands Santa Anna's sword to Col. Travis.^ 

Col. Wm. Travis. 

My heart has ceased its beat o'er thy account, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1 89 

My thoughts refuse thy trial's depth to fathom, 
How, reft of friends, hedged round by War and Foe, 
Weak woman, thou stoodst pitted 'gainst the Man 
Before whose might nine millions bow. And still 
Thou hast prevailed ! What fortitude, 
Wliat lofty height of virtue, what resolve 
Of more than manly virtue hast thou shown! 
WHiat prizeless, unheard triumph hast thou won! 
Before the radiance of thy victory, 
The martyrs must conceal their thorny crowns. 
The heroes hide the trophies of their fame. 
The angels selves begrudge thy glory's halo, — • 
Oh, Elsie, Elsie ! I deserve thee not ! 

Elsie. 
Say rather : I am worthy now of thee, 
The heroine (if I am justified 
To call me so), the equal hero's bride. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
His bride? Alas ! the poorest swain on earth, 
The meanest beggar can afford his bride 
A life, a fortune he would deem most royal 
Compared to what I can bestow on thee : 
He has a cot, I but a heap of ruins ; 
He owns a bedstead, I not e'en a bier ; 
His wedding is made gay by festive music, 
Mine terrible with hissing, crashing shell. 
Nought, nojglt I have to give to thee but Death — 



1 90 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Death for thy bans, Death for thy bridal-dress, 
Death for thy rhig. Death for thy wedding-night. 

Elsie, 
And is not that more than a heart could ask, 
Yea, verily, the highest gift wherewith 
Heaven can adorn and crown a woman's life, 
To fight, to bleed, to die beside her lover, 
In righteous cause and heavenward rise with him 
Upon the pinions of a glorious deed. 
Upon the rosy cloud of fame eternal, 
'Mid the applause of both the Earth and Heaven? 
Or wouldest thou that I, year after year, 
Pine, languish, waste away in self-torment, 
To join my hero in the light above ? 
No, I will die with thee, die at thy side. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
No, Elsie, no ! thy pure and stainless hand, 
That knew in life nought else but charity, 
Must not by bloodshed be profaned in death ; 
Nor must thou self endure the cruelties 
Of bloody fray, which spares nor age nor sex. 
Should I behold by savage thrust laid ope 
The tender breast, whose secrecy was mine ? 
Or witness how thy graceful form is soiled 
With bloody gore or trampled in the dust ? 
That memory would haunt me e'en in heaven. 
It must not be, fain as I had thee nigh me, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. IQI 

When self I bleeding lie upon the sod. 
Choose every other road to death but this. 

Elsie. 

One only way of death I yet could wish, 

Will then remain for me, if would thine hand — 

Col. Wm. Travis. 

\Inte7'riipting her quickly?^ 
Pronounce it not — my heart will turn to stone. 

James Travis. 

So let my counsel come to your relief. 
The Alamo — I heard thee say, — is mined — 

Col. Wm. Travis. 

Thanks, brother, for thy counsel's timely aid. 
The way is found, dear Elsie, that avoids 
Thy desecration by the enemy's hand. 
And yet assigns to thee the foremost place 
And office in the Alamo's defence. 

Elsie. 

Then my two wishes are fulfilled : the first 

To be with thee, when heavenward soars thy spirit; 

The other: to redeem my father's guilt 

And injury to Freedom's sacred cause, 

By graving on her radiant roll of honor 

(Would it were his !) — the name of Elsie Bradburn. 



192 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
What say'st thou ? '' Elsie Bradbiirn ?" — Elsie Travis : 
This and none else must henceforth be thy name. 
Thy love gave me that dearly-cherished right^ 
Thy presence here makes it necessity ! 
As blent our soids in one delightful trance, 
As blent our hcaj-ts in one regard for truth, 
As will our lives blend in one glorious death. 
So must hereafter stand our names entwined ! 
William and Elsie Travis : this must be 
The appellation of that double-star, 
Whose brilliancy, blent inseparably, 
Will shine upon the firmament of fame. 

Elsie. 
Oh, Travis ! if within my .bosom's niche 
Still lurked a secret longing it was this. 
Though I forebore to make it known to thee. 
Hedged as thou art, by obstacles and foes, 
I fain forced back into my bosom's shrine 
The care for my repute, than rather add 
More to the weight of thy embarrassment. 
Now, now, I am the happiest of women ! 
But, pravj where is the hand, that God-ordained, 
Will consecrate our wedlock's holy bond? 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
Wilt, brother, call the chaplain from the door ? 
[ While James Travis goes io execute his brother s wish^ 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. I93 

and while he and the Chaplain for a short time in- 
dulge in manifestations of joy about their meeting 
again^ Colonel William Travis continues^ speaking to 
Elsie .-] 

Our wedding, Elsie, will not come to pass 

As we, when seated once in moonlight's glare 

'Neath Anahuac's verdant garden-bower, 

In glowing tints had pictured to one another. 

Yet though our fancy's dreams are not fulfilled, 

Our wedding-day is not devoid of charms. 

The sparkling tears of joy within thine eyes 

Outshine in brilliancy the costliest pearls 

Wherewith thou couldst have decked thee out to-day; 

The glowing blush upon thy cheeks out-does 

The fairest rose-bloom which thou couldst have worn; 

While in solemnity of hour and place 

No earthly wedding can compete with ours. 

Elsie. 

And if on Earth the picture of our fancy 
Has been excelled by its embodiment, 
How much more gloriously will Heaven redeem 
What little we have lost beneath. For now 
The draft we thought to hold on eartlily gifts 
Has been exchanged for one on Heaven's delights, 
Far greater, safer, better than the first. 
\Here James Travis and the Chaplaiji advance to the 
altar.^ 



194 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 

\^Addrcssing the Chaplain^ 
Hast list to our converse ? 

Smith. 

I heard it all, 
And praised the Lord, whose wondrous hand pours out 
Such glory inconceivable on us. 
I say : " on us ; " because we all alike 
Are glorified by this event, e'en I; 
For now relieved of one part of thy charge, 
I trust thou wilt revoke thy whole behest. 
That I like you may battling die for freedom, 
Like you may worthily conclude my life. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
How could I, friend, refuse to grant thy prayer, 
When mine is heard beyond all expectation ? 
Hence bless our union, and that joyest service 
Of all upon thy lips, go forth to death. 
God will take care of our remains and fame. 
So let me then present thee to my bride: 
From her own lips thou knowest who she is : 
And thine own heart will tell thee what she is. 

Elsie. 

\Addrcssing the Chaplain^ 
If dear forever to a pious heart 
Will be the hand, whose ministry hath hallowed 
And crowned its life-time's brightest bond and day, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1 95 

How sacred must thy memory be to me, 
Who, like the Lord's Envoy Extraordinary, 
Appearest here midway through walls and foes, 
To wreathe my brow with grace, e'en ere I die. 

Smith. 

If I am so ordained by God, 't is thou 

Who givest me my mission's consciousness. 

As grateful for the care bestowed on her. 

The Rose blooms fairest in her warden's sight, 

Yet hardly less delights the passer-by 

Through her sweet loveliness and charming scent. 

So holds as well a good and pious heart 

A source of blessings rich enough for all, 

E'en though its foremost love is vowed to one. 

So I, scarce entered in thy blessings' sphere. 

Become a sharer of their gifts and dowers, 

Whose recognition by my slightest service 

Returns to me as two-fold benefit. 

I owe to thee, that by this joyful rite 

Of Matrimony I may end my mission ; 

I owe to thee, that by this glorious death 

Of heroism I may conclude my life. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 

Would that my friends could all attend our wedding ; 
Alas ! the hour's stern duty bars their presence. 
Yet not unmeet it seems, that one at least 
Were witness and partaker of our joy. 



196 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Scene IV. 

Enters Crockett. The bombardment, preceding the assault^ 
is just then beginning. 

Crockett. 

[^Remains standing at the door.] 
Where linger'st thou, Commander? Even now 
The foe begins the thundering ouverture 
Wherewith he opes our tragedy's last act; 
He'll not be slow in adding the finale. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
How long before we may expect their coming ? 

Crockett. 
They will be here in less than half an hour. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
Are all our men well-stationed, say ? 
Crockett. 

They are. 
Ranged in a semi-circle round the breach, 
And sheltered well 'gainst shot and shell, they bide 
Impatiently the enemy's approach. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
'T is well, my friend ! And therefore I beseech thee 
To spare me still five minutes of thy life, 
And to attend my wedding as my groomsman. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1 97 

Crockett. 

[^Advanciug to the altar. ^ 
Thou jestest, friend— it cannot be — but, ah ! 
It must be true — who is this handsome maiden ? 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
'T is Elsie Bradburn, my heroic bride. 
Crockett. 
\Pointing in great surprise at James TravisJ] 
And who is this 1 am I awake or dreaming ? 
James Travis, thou ? my youthful, gallant friend. 
The fear for whose imperiled fate has wrung 
The first right-fervid prayer I e'er in life 
Have uttered, from my anxious bosom's shrine. 
But speak ! declare to me the riddle, how 
Thou hast escaped the tyrant's tiger-claws 
And comest here, I know not, through the air 
Or from the. ground, albeit we saw thee not. 

James Travis. 
Hast ever thou, amid thy many feats 
Of danger, as I well surmise, been saved 
From out the very jaws of direst death 
By wondrous, providential interference, 
To fathom which thy mind proved impotent ? 
If had thy fancy's eye on such occasion 
Attired thy intercessor with the brightest hues 
Of Heaven and Earth, of Morn and Evening-skv, — 



19.8 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

With all the highest attributes of Virtue, — 
Thy fairest image would have fallen short 
From tJiis embodiment of guardian-angel, 
Who healed my wounds, soothed my captivity, 
Defied the tyrant's wrath, and saving me 
From cruel torture and disgraceful end, 
Restored me safely to my countrymen, 
Whose fate, whose death she is prepared to share. 

Crockett. 

\Be riding his knee before Elsie^^ 
Fair Lady ! David Crockett, who not once 
In all his life has bowed to man or woman, 
Here lays his fame, his triumphs at thy feet. 
Confessing him outdone by thee in all 
His boldest courage ever could conceive. 
Compared to thy heroic fortitude, 
The honor even to have sat in Congress 
Sinks into nought ; I shall no longer boast it. 

Col. Wm, Travis. 
Beside my brother, has my gallant bride 
A precious trophy brought with her, this sabre 
Of Santa Anna, wrested from his side. 

Crockett. 

\Takes the sword and examines it.^ 
This is his sword ? — Oh, glorious prophecy, 
Whose meaning e'en the blindest eye can see, 
Whose speaking promise heralds Heaven's decree 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 1 99 

That through Him, with Him Texas will be free ! 
For as this sword, the mighty tyrant's brand, 
Was torn from him by tender woman's hand, 
So shall his power wreck 'gainst this feeble land. 
His whelming host against our little band. 

\^Sinking oti one knee^ Jie stretches his arms upward^ 
Oh, Lord ! I pray like Simeon on my knees : 
Now lettest Thou Thy servant jDart in peace, 
Since have mine eyes beheld this land's release 
From bonds and rise to Freedom's blessed ease. 

\He rises ^ 

Travis. 

Our time is costly, friends ! for every moment 

Brings nearer us to our impending doom. 

So let us wisely use our time allotted 

For what is most required and proceed 

To celebrate our wedding-ceremony, 

Where cannon-roar serves for the organ's peal, 

Where rockets glare instead of nuptial torch, 

Where stern-faced Death is the hymeneal god. 

\^The Chaplain takes his position in front of the altar 
at the foot of which the bridalpair kneel down. 
Crockett and James Travis stand behind them. The 
bombardment reaches, its highest force, — bombshell 
even now crashing through the chapel-roof. 
Chaplain Smith. 

With God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost ! 

Speak, William Travis, wilt thou take this woman 



200 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Unto thy wedded wife, to live together 
By God's commandment in the holy state 
Of Matrimony ? Wilt thou love and comfort 
And keep her in disease and health, and leaving 
All others, keep thee unto her alone 
So long ye both shall live on earth ? 

Col. Wm. Travis. 

I will. 
Chaplain Smith. 

Speak, Elsie Bradburn ! wilt thou take this man 

Unto thy wedded husband, to abide 

By God's commandment in the holy state 

Of Matrimony 1 Wilt thou love and comfort 

And keep him in disease and health, and leaving 

All others, keep thee unto him alone 

So long ye both shall live ? 

Elsie. 
I will. 
Chaplain Smith. 

Who giveth 
This woman to be married to this man .? 
[ The Chaplain receives Elsie at Crockett's hands. Travis 
with his right hand takes Elsie^ s right hand.^ 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
I, William Travis, take thee, Elsie Bradburn, 
To have and hold thee as my wedded wife, 
From this day forth, for better and for worse, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 20I 



For richer and for poorer, in disease 
And so in health, to cherish and to love thee, 
Till Death do part us after God's command, 
Whereto I plight my sacred troth to thee. 
[ They loose their hands. Elsie with her right hand now 
takes Travis by his right hand-^ 

Elsie. 
I, Elsie Bradburn, take thee, William Travis, 
To have and hold thee as my wedded husband 
From this day forth, for better and for worse. 
For richer and for poorer, in disease 
And health, to love, obey and cherish thee 
Till death do part us after God's command, 
Whereto I plight my sacred troth to thee. 
\^They again loose their ha?ids. Travis gives Elsie a ring; 

Chaplain S?nith taking it from Elsie's hand, delivers 

it unto Travis, %v ho puts it on Elsie's finger ?[ 
Col. Wm. Travis. 
This ring for token, I thee wed and 'dow thee 
With all my worldly goods — thus in the name 
Of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, x\men ! 
{Chaplain S??iith then Joins their hands together. At this 

very mo?ne7it a bomb-shell, crashing through the roof, 

explodes on the floor. ^ 

Chaplain Smith. 
Whom God. has joined, let no man put asunder. 
[ Then laying his hands upon their heads, he blesses them .•] 



202 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost preserve 

And bless ye both ; the Lord All-Merciful 

Look favorably upon ye and endow 

Your hearts with all spiritual gifts of grace, 

That ye so live together in this life 

That in the world to come ye may attain 

Life ever-glorious, everlasting ! Amen. 

[ The bridal-pair rise. Enters Major Evans in great haste. ] 

Evans. 
The cannonade has ceased. The enemy 
Can plainly be descried forming their lines 
For the immediate storm upon the breach. 

\^Exit Evans.'\ 
Col. Wm. Travis. 
Then I must be without ! Farewell, dear wife. 

Crockett. 
No, no ! my friend ! this is against the rules, 
As we were wont, — (correcting himself^ as every one 

would say, 
To leave so soon thy newly-wedded wife. 
Without so much as e'en a moment's parley. 
'T were cruel, 't were inhuman, 't were outrageous. 
And stood the foe upon the breach, we should 
Throw us against him like a living wall, 
Till thou hast said a Christian-like farewell 
To her, who hardly thine, is torn from thee. 
'T is time yet for a brief converse; I self 



TJfE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 203 

Will tell thee when thy presence is required. 
Come, Chaplain ! come, young friend ! thy story will 
Still more inspire our men, when through their ranks 
Runs the account of thy deliverance. 

Col. Wm. Travis 
So be it then ! Thanks, tender-hearted friend ! 

\Crockett^ James Travis and the Chaplain go without?^ 

Scene V. 
Wm. Travis and Elsie. 
Wm. Travis. 
My darling wife ! to call thee by this name 
Yet here on earth, e'en for a moment only, 
And to behold thy prophecy fulfilled. 
That hand in hand we shall ascend to Heaven, 
Where is the hero whom this bliss befell ? 

Elsie. 
Beloved husband ! if this name endeared 
Entitles me to share thy weal and woe 
On Earth below, this were enough of blessing; 
But when by heavenly mercy I am granted 
That rarest privilege to blend with thee 
My very destiny, my very future, 
In one grand moment of a glorious Death : 
Where is the woman whom this bliss befell ? 



204 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Wm. Travis. 
Thou sayest true : what greater bliss can be 
Than this : from Life's most radiant joy to leap 
With glowing cheeks, and with enraptured heart, 
Into the deepest ecstasy of Death, 
Of Death for Country, Right and Liberty. 
This is no foretaste : this is Heaven itself. 

Elsie. 
I should not love thee, could I not with thee 
Feel e'en the least vibration of thy glee ! 
Still, let us not give way to passionate joy, 
But peacefully collect our thoughts like some 
Long intimate through earnest contemplation 
With all the prospects of their future journey. 
Pilgrims for Canaan, we have now attained 
The Sinai of our lives, whence we may trace 
The road we traveled o'er from out the bondage 
Of Egypt through the desert's dreary waste, 
And where as well w^e are allowed a glimpse 
Into the haze-dimmed " Promised Land " before us 
Where so one summit links the Past and Presence 
And Future of our lives, it is well meet 
To linger here awhile in meditation. 
And with the truth here plucked for keepsake-flower. 
Take leave forever from our late abode. 
And were then, while we turn to go, a tear 
To fall from out our eye upon that flower, 
That costly dew would heighten but its bloom. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 20$ 



As children lightly in their frolic's mirth 

Forget the hand that pleased them by some toy, 

So we at first, when planted on this earth, 

'Mid all the charms that day and night deploy, 

Became oblivious of our heavenly birth. 
And only reveled in our harmless joy. 

All while unconscious of the waxing sin 

Of selfishness and pride our hearts within. 

2. 

Yet ever and anon, a " low, still voice," 

Came from our deepest hearts' abyss, that told 

Of one still higher prize, a boon more choice 
Than all the gifts of pleasure, gain and gold ; 

Yet though we sought its trace 'mid worldly noise 
In solitude, within our closet's fold 

By night and day, with eager, anxious look, 

Nowhere we could descry its hiding-nook. 

3- 

Unheard by us, unnoticed by our eye. 

With angel's tread, despite our watchful care, 

As floats the silvery moonlight from the sky, 
As flowery scent is wafted in the air. 

As downward sinks the night-dew from on high, 
So calm, so soft, so gentle and so fair. 

Love in our hearts at last took its abode. 

And drove from it our selfishness abroad. 



206 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

4. 
And with it came a holy awe to reign 

Within our hearts, a namelesss, dreaming-glee, 
A deep contempt for worldly, hollow gain, 

A pride in voluntary poverty, 
A sweet delight in self-inflicted pain, 

Withal a longing for humility, 
As if our all we joyfully would give, 
If we but in our '' second I " could live. 

5. 
'T was Evt\ — the eve of hallowed recognition., 

When under Anahuac's verdant bower 
Our blended love first oped our spirit's vision 

To greater light, to consciousness of power. 
When we conceived the purport of our mission : 

Through Love to reach at Truth. No higher dower 
— We weened, — could Earth contain or Heaven above; 
We were contented here to live and love. 

6. 

Then came the Night — the night of Grief which cast 
Around our lives her black-draped velvet-cloak ; 

Muffling our joy, too beautiful to last. 
She put on us her trials' cross and yoke. 

Yet all for good — the first pain's harshness past, 
Her earnest mildness hallowed it and woke 

Within our hearts a swttt presentiment, 

With which our tears in harmony were blent. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 20J 



And now 't is Dawn, the dawn of radiant Hope, 

Whose rose-beams, quivering through our twiHght's 
gloom, 

Have laid our sorrow's sable-curtain ope 
To brighter hue, to rays of life and bloom. 

Distending now our \\^2,xX.^' prophetic scope, 
With flowers she twines for us the very tomb, 

And joyfully leads our victorious march 

To glowing light through Heaven's triumphal arch. 

8. 

Soon *t will be Day — the day of Love and Light, 
Whose faint reflex was mirrored in our dreams, 

Whose radiance made our purest moments bright, 
Whose pledge we found within our bosoms' seams ; 

Cleansed there from earthly sin, from mortal blight. 
Basking beneath the rays of heavenly beams. 

Our happy spirits twining more and blending. 

Will melt in one love-atom without ending. 

Travis. 

9. 

Oh, Elsie ! now, first now I owe to thee 
That has my earthly life attained its goal. 

While hitherto I read Heaven's radiancy 
Within thy glance alone, within thy soul. 



208 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO, 

Thy wisdom now has set my spirit free, 

Boldly it rises to the aerial pole, 
And clearly feels, that, what as Beauty's share 
It here has known, will perfect Truth be there. 

lO. 

Therefore, oh Death ! where, — where is now thy sting ? 

Therefore, oh Grave ! where is thy victory ? 
My wintery soul bursts forth to bloom of Spring, 

My bosom's discords swell to harmony, 
My spirit's veil is lift by magic ring. 

From dross refined, my powers rise valiantly; 
And from the cup of Love with ecstasy 
I quaff the draught of Immortality. 
David Crockett. 

\Ap pears at the door.l 
Now it is time ! the enemy approach ! 

[Exit.'] 
Wm. Travis. 
II. 

Thou sayest true ! my friend ! now it is time ! 

When so we yearn for higher, better sphere. 
When fall on us such beams from heavenly clime, 

When o'er our hearts is spread such comfort's cheer, 
When on our ear strikes such celestial chime : 

Then, truly ! it is time to part from here ! 
Come, Elsie, come ! one moment yet of pain : 
Then joy for aye and happiness amain. 

[ lV7n. and Elsie Travis leave the chapel. '\ 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 209 

Scene VI. 
The Fall of the Alamo. 
One side of the stage represe?tts the barracks., at the end of 
which the powder -7nagazine rises : a loia square tower 
with a platforjti on the top. The other side is tv holly 
taken up by the breach^ extending in a semi-circle from 
one front-corner to the opposite corner in the rear of 
the stage. Behind the breach lie the defenders of the 
Alamo with bayonets fixed, ready to receive the enemy. 
The latter are heard approaching in the distance 
under martial fnusic and beating of drums. '^ 
Col. Wm. Travis comes from the b arrack- door ^ taking his 
position in the center of the breach beside his brother 
yames and his captains, while Elsie at the same time 
appears o?i the top of the powder-7nagazine with a 
lighted torch in her hand. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
Are ready ye, my faitliful men, to die 
For Texas and her Liberty ? 

All. 

Aye, Aye ! 
Col. Wm. Travis. 
So hear then your Commander's last harangue 
Ere wholly deafened by tbe weapons' clang. 
For months we have been fellow-workmen here, 
Intent a grand, a lofty work to rear. 
* For the tune of this March, see page 247. 



210 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Our part is done, our tools are laid aside, 
And standing by we gaze with conscious pride 
At what our will, our strength, our energy 
Have called from nought to life and certainty ; 
And though the building is imperfect still, 
Though other hands our labor must fulfill — 
Our arms have laid its firm foundation-walls, 
Oicr vict'ries have adorned its spacious halls, 
Our blood has given its sides their radiant hue, 
Our death yet will cement it through and through. 
When then in future years some passer-by 
Shall view our structure with admiring eye, 
His wonderment will be a silent praise 
To all that shared to mould its beauty's grace. 
While year to year, as they succeed, hand down 
Its builders' name in glory and renown. 
And those who live beneath its roof will bless 
Its workmen's handicraft and faithfulness. 
Such is the fame that will on us reflect, 
The servants of the Heavenly Architect, 
Who also chose this hand and heart of mine 
For overseer at his grand design. 
Hence it becomes to me, — ere we disband, 
To go to higher work in higher land, 
There to perfect our workmanship and art, — • 
To thank you, comrades, from my inmost heart 
For your support and stout fidelity, 
Your ready zeal and confidence in me. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 21 I 

Without you this defence had been a farce, 
With you its glory rises to the stars; 
Without you my endeavors had been vain, 
With you Man's highest pahii falls to my gain. 
So by your gallant captains' hands receive 
My gratitude as from them I take leave. 
Come, Oldham, Evans, Kimble, Dickinson; 
Shake hands with me; our gallant race is won. 
Crockett, farewell ! but why this thoughtful brow ? 

Crockett. 
Beg pardon ; I rehearsed a speech just now, 
Wherewith I shall address Leonidas 
And his three-hundred; as beneath I was 
A Congressman, they will no doubt demand 
A speech from me ! We meet on heavenly strand. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 
Farewell, dear brother James ! if still I grieve. 
It is, that thou, so young and fair, must leave 
Earth's joy behind; yet it is better far. 
That quickly here thou die in honest War 
Than slowly through the hands of Tyranny ! 
Farewell ! how will thy mother pine for thee ! 

James Travis. 
Mourn not, dear brother; for the joyous boon 
Of such a death can never come too soon ! 
[ The soicnd of the enemy's drums and martial music is 
noia heard more distinctly^ 



212 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Col. Wm. Travis. 

Hark ye ! how close the foe is now at hand, 

Full many thousands 'gainst our little band. 

So nerve your strength, let every sinew swell 

To be a man, and let your bayonets tell, 

Your swords, your muskets and your Bowie-knives, 

How dearly ye have sold your precious lives. 

Where none is witness to your gallantry. 

There let the enemy's crippled numbers be 

Its speaking proof and herald. 

YHere the viorning-sun suddenly bursts forth from be- 
hind a bank of dark clouds ?[ 

[Enthusiastically .1^ But behold ! 
God's hand has oped Heaven's radiant gate of gold, 
Where clad in robes of white the heroes stand 
Of every nation, every age and land. 
To welcome you into their marble-dome. 
To bid you make its gorgeous hall your home, 
And by their hands to lead you to the seat 
Of honor. Hence your future mates to greet, 
Intune once more your " Hymn of Liberty," 
And on the pinions of its melody 
Let joyfully your souls to Heaven ascend. 
There to abide in glory without end. 
Rise, hero-brethren, rise ! your last breath be : 
" For Texas and her Liberty ! " 
[^All rise. At this juncture the band of the enemy ivhose 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 21 3 

advance is plainly heard from behind the breach^ 
strikes up the trio of their March., which serves as an 
accompaniment to the Hymn of Liberty., which the 
defenders of the Ala?no now intiine.^ 

All. 

Rise, comrades, see ! the Heavens adorn 

Their gates with radiant charms, 
To welcome you, when thither borne 

In Freedom's fondling arms ; 
There to abide in bliss and grace, 
While live your names in song and praise. 
Rise, comrades, rise ! your last breath be : 
" For Texas and her Liberty ! " 

[ While singing the last two lines, the defenders of the 
Alamo, Travis ahead .^ with Santa Aetna's sword raised 
high in the air, leap to the crest of the breach, where 
the front ranks of the enemy are jnst appearing. 
Before the onslaught of the Texans, the Mexicans fall 
back, folloived by the former, so that they are wholly 
lost out of sight by the spectators. For a short tijne 
the clash of arms is heard from behi7id the stage. Then 
ensues a mo77ientary lull.^ 

A Voice. 
\_From behind the breach, as of one dying ^ 
Come, Elsie, to my side, and hand in hand 
We will ascend into the Heavenly Land. 



214 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Elsie. 

Yes, Travis, happy spirit ! joyfully 

I follow thee to Immortality. 

[ While just then a Mexican Ensign appears on the crest of 
the breach^ where he plants his staiidard^ Elsie throws 
the torch into the powder-magazine. A loud crash 
follows: — the Mexican soldier with his flag falls to 
the ground ; — the avails of the Imrracks cave toivard the 
outside, — the Ala7nj sinks into ruifis. While the 
Mexican band., stationed behind the breach.^ once more 
repeats the last part of the March. ^ 

[The Curtain slowly descends^ 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 21 5 



EPILOGUE 



THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO. 

Scene I. 
An open field near Vince's Bridge, on the grounds where 
afterwards the Battle of San Jacinto took place. 
Enters Bradburn, haggard, in ragged clothing, bear- 
ing oji his arms a?id ankles iron rings, from which 
the chains have been filed off. 
I have escaped ! am free from chains at last; 
For days and weeks I patiently have borne 
Taunts from the lips and tortures from the hands 
Of Santa Anna and his servile knaves. 
Each of their vict'ries brought me sneers and insults, 
Each of their bloodsheds added wounds to mine ; 
But well I have remembered every item 
Of — despot ! — thy indebtedness to me, 
And quietly nursed my wrath, till on one day 
With interest thousandfold thou shalt repay: 

[ With impassionate voice.] 
Tyrant ! that day has come ; the hour has struck 
That will blot out thy pride, thy fame, thy luck. 
[Continuing more quietly.] 



2l6 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

I cannot err ! God's finger points it out ! 

My light escape upon the very spot 

Which, from their threats, should see my execution, — 

The bridges, by the freshet swept away, 

The marshy ground, impeding every step. 

All these foreshadow their defeat and ruin, 

And more, — as if a god had struck them blind, 

They, in the recklessness of their success, 

Neglect the plainest rules of watchfulness — 

Seest, tyrant, not the writing on the wall 

That prophesies thy near-impending fall ? 

\^He takes a seat on a grassy knoll\ 
How so familiar seem these grounds to me, 
How touchingly these meads address my heart, 
As if they were my childhood's rambling-place. 
Here o'er these fields the prancing charger bore 
My daughter at my side with fleeting pace; 
There gleam the glassy waters of the bay 
Upon whose emerald waves we oft beguiled 
The merry hours with sail and oar and net, 
And yonder in the hazy distance rise 
The pinnacles of Anahuac's Fort, 
Our former pleasant, peaceful, happy home — 

\^He I'ises^ 
Till broke the demon of thy tyranny 
Upon the peace of every family. 
What evil thou hast sown from far-off land. 
That evil's harvest-field shall be this strand. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 21^ 

I, too, have sinned, have wronged my fellow-men, 

Have raged against my kindred and myself. 

But though All-gracious Heaven may deem my throes 

And gloomy bondage full atonement's price 

For what my waywardness has brought about, 

I must do more ; my honor and my fame 

I must restore before my countrymen. 

And in sublimity of earthly record 

Become a fit companion to the souls 

Of my beloved ones 'mid celestial spheres. 

This done I fain will yield my parting breath, 

And find my brightest triumph in my death, 

While, tyrant, thou shalt live to contemplate 

Thy shattered power and to bewail thy fate. 

Yes, 1 7fiust die, luill die, though God forbid, 

That I enlist my hand to end my life; 

For so much I have learned in that poor school 

Which I must call my sorrowful career. 

That one offence 'gainst Nature's ordinance 

Cannot be remedied by still another. 

As at the evening of some dismal day, 

The radiant sun from the horizon's brink 

Once more will clothe the somber firmament 

With purplish-golden hues, before he sets — 

I, too, will crown my ill-spent, wayward life 

By one bright deed, one bliss-conferring act 

The proverb's truth : All's well that endeth well. 

Be demonstrated in my funeral knell. 



2l8 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Scene II. 
Deaf Smith, the Scout, appears with a party of seven men. 

Bradburn. 
But see ! who comes ? 'T is Texans : their advent 
I hail with joy : it guarantees success. 

Deaf Smith. 
Who art thou, fellow, enemy or friend ? 

Bbadburn. 
My uniform betides the Mexican, 
My heart's pulse throbs for Texas and her freedom. 

Deaf Smith. 
So art thou a deserter > Strange, indeed, 
Must be the motive that induces thee 
To leave thy comrades' banner at a time, 
When Victory, the fickle goddess, is 
So stable a companion of their arms. 
When in the fatness of the land they revel, 
While want and hopelessness abide with us. 

Bradburn. 
The purer my intention is. 

Deaf Smith. 

Thy name ? 
Bradburn. 
I shall reveal it to thy general. 
Lead me to him : for my report is urgent. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 219 

Deaf Smith. 
Then, Alsbury, conduct him to the camp, 
While farther we pursue our scouting-tour. 

Bradburn. 
No, no. Sir Scout, ye all must come with me, 
For every gallant arm is needed there. 
'T is useless quite for you to search for news 
That mine would not exceed a hundred-fold 
By weightiness and accurate account. 
But ere we go, my friends, let us destroy 
This bridge, to thwart the enemy's hasty flight; 
The swampy shores will stay their horses' feet, 
The swollen waves defy their strength to cross. 
So go to work; then I shall follow you. 

Deaf Smith. 
Thou, a deserter, unknown and despised, 
Commandest here, as if thou wert our master; 
And yet I know not what it is that prompts me 
Implicitly thy order to obey. 
If I believed in visions, I should ween 
Thou wert an angel sent from heavenly realms, 
Disguised in beggar's dress, to aid our cause 
By thine advice; so beams thy eye inspired. 
And so assuring sounds to me thy voice. 
So, friends, make haste to hurl these planks and beams 
Into the waves; for if that man tells true, 
Our arms are needed in the camp to-day. 

\_They throiv the planks into the river i\ 



220 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Bradburn. 
[ With exultation?^ 

As falls this yoke, forced on the river's brow, 
So shall the yoke of tyranny be severed 
That weighed so heavily upon this land, 
Proclaim, ye beams, wherever ye may fare. 
Proclaim, ye rafters, swimming to the sea, 
That also ye have done your humble share 
To set one people more at liberty. 
You fitly oped the tragedy's prelude, 
Which now our weapons bravely shall conclude. 

{^Exeunt ^ 

Scene III. 

Getieral Sam^Houstoiis tent. Gen. Houston, Gen. Bur- 
leson^ Texan officers. 

Houston. 
I have now laid before you, Gentlemen, 
The grounds wherefore I deem it wise to act 
On the defensive, and to fight our foes 
Before our lines, than rather to attack 
Their far superior numbers in the field. 
Speak thy opinion, Burleson, and state 
What thou deem'st prudent for the good of all. 

Burleson. 
Time, master of us all, is just as potent 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 221 

With nations as with individuals. 

Each has some moments, which, if wisely used. 

Will seize their barks as by an under-tow, 

And lift them on the billows of success. 

And though I have no reason to advance 

Than what I feel within my bosom's shrine, 

A holy voice,^I take it, — given by God, 

I pray thee, Chief, — I pray ye, gentlemen, 

Not to foreclose an opportunity 

Wliich missed may nevermore again return. 

We must attack the enemy to-day. 

This very hour, or lose our chance forever. 

Houston. 
What is with thee ? I never heard thee speak 
So deep-mysteriously, so strange-perversely. 

Burleson. 
The more a ground why thou shouldst not reject 
This time my counsel, weird as it may seem. 

Houston. 
Where highest wisdom must decide a deed. 
Thou wouldst decline her guidance and advice ? 

Burleson. 
'T is better, when a spirit shows the way. 
Relieving us from scanning Wisdom's scruples. 

Houston. 
Our plainest acts are ruled by common-sense^ 
And in this crisis we should waive its conduct ? 



222 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Burleson. 
Prudence is good enough for every day, 
It needs a god to guide in danger's hour. 

Houston. 

'T be far from us to doubt the help of God, 
Who quickens human wit in troubled times. 

Burleson. 
The voice of God is best learnt through the heart 
That reads His signs with trusting, child-like mind ; 
So let us then await our scouts' report, 
Which, as I fondly hope, will change thy views. 

Houston. 
Just now I hear the voice of Smith without; 
Let him come in, to render his report. 

\An officer goes without to call Smith in.} 

Scene IV. 
Enter Deaf S??iith and Bradburn. 
Houston. 
Whom bring'st thou here to us — a captive, Smith ? 

Deaf Smith. 
No, General, a deserter whom we met 
At Vince's Bridge, and who, as he professes, 
Brings weighty tidings from the enemy. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 223 

Burleson. 
[Placing himself squarely before Bradburn^ whose an-s 

he seizes, and whose features he scaiis with inten e 

eagerness .] 
This face, — this stature — should I know them not ? 
'T is Colonel Bradburn — but, alas, how changed ! 

Bradburn. 
Yes, deeply changed through grim Affliction's hand, 
In face and hair, — but also changed in heart. 

Burleson. 
We heard of it, though scarce we could believe it ; 
So tell ! what leads thy journey to our camp ? 

Bradburn. 
To call you out to fight this very hour. 

Burleson. 
Hast, Chief, thou heard ? Have, Generals, ye heard } 
What greater proof of my opinion's justice 
Will you require than that, my word scarce uttered, 
It instantly and strongly is confirmed.^ 
And though it is a beggar, a deserter, 
A traitor, if you will, that bears it out. 
No less he comes a messenger from heaven ! 
For Providence has different ways from ours 
And uses means beyond our comprehension. 
But, Bradburn, tell us now whereon thou basest 
Thy message which to me is clear enough. 



224 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Bradburn. 

With less than thousand men and thirteen guns 

Had Santa Anna hardly crossed the river 

In eager hurry to prevent your flight, 

When oped the heavens the sluices of their lakes 

And sent upon the earth an avalanche 

Of water-floods which made the plain a sea 

And filled the rivers to their utmost brink. 

The bridges by the torrents swept away, 

The forces under Cos and Filisola 

Are yet detained at Harrisburg and Brazos. 

Now, now or never is your time and chance, 

Triumphantly by one stroke of the sword 

To consummate your highest aspirations. 

Oh ! profit of the moment ere it flees, 

Observe how Fortune — God ! — has cleared for you 

An unobstructed path, upon whose goal 

The laurel-wreath of Vict'ry hangs suspended. 

Burleson. 
Oh ! list to him, for he is sent by God. 

Houston. 
Where lies a nation's fate upon the scale, 
It surely needs a stronger argument 
Than a deserter's to decide upon. 

Deaf Smith. 
So let my lips corroborate his word. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 225 

For going past the enemy's camp this morn 
No scouts were seen, no sentries, no intrenchments. 
Like swarming bees, so roamed the Mexicans, 
Some here, some there, for fodder and for wood ; 
In open fields they unprotected lie 
With swamps and swollen rivers in their rear, 
And not one bridge for their retreat, since we 
At his advice {pointing at Bradbuni) destroyed the last 
at Vince's. 

Houston. 

And may not this apparent negligence 
Be but a mask, a ruse to lure us on 
To our defeat upon his chosen ground ? 

Bradburn. 

These papers ta'en from Santa Anna's tent 

Will prove to thee, that quite a different scheme 

Lies in his plan ; he only bides the coming 

Of Cos and Filisola to surround 

Your forces here, and with one final blow 

To crush the hope of Liberty forever. 

YHe hands some papers to Houston.^ 
Houston. 
This only strengthens my opinion more 
To wait for his attack in our position ; 
For knowing his design, we lightly can 
Defeat it by the weapons of his own. 



226 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Bradburn. 

So hear me, Chief; so hear me, Generals ! 
Here on my knees I now beseech you all ! 
\0n his knees he crouches round the circle with uplifted 
hands. Then he opens his coat and bares his ar/ns, to 
show his wounds, at which all express the utmost 
horror.^ 
Behold these stripes, behold these ghastly wounds, 
Which call aloud for vengeance and requital. 
And yet this costly property of mine, 
And the remembrance of my grievous wrongs, 
My daughter's martyrdom, her lover's death, 
I fain will lay upon this country's altar, 
Since far a greater sacrifice I brought. 

^He ?'ises.'\ 
For list ! Last night, when drunk with ardent wine 
From pillaged Harrisburg obtained, my guards 
Were fast asleep, when Santa Anna self 
Lay on his camp-bed in unconscious stupor, 
By dint of weary filing I at last 
Freed me of chains, pressed deep into my flesh. 
On hands and knees I crept then, where he lay, 
He, he, the fiend, that wrecked my life, — he, he. 
That used to while his leisure-hours away. 
To see me writhe beneath his cruel hand ; 
He, he, that scarce an hour ago had struck 
And stamped me in his drunken humor's fit. 
As standing so before my mortal foe, 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 22/ 

I gazed upon his hateful countenance, 

Each raking pain I felt in limb and heart, 

Each sneer engraven on my memory, 

Was blended in one single thought and feeling, 

One single wish and joy : — Revenge ! 

E'en then I had unsheathed his sword — e'en then 

I held the glittering blade high in the air, — 

E'en then I nerved me for the wieldy blow, — 

E'en then the arch-fiend's life hung by a thread, — 

When seemed an unseen hand to check my arm, 

While rang a soothing voice into my ear 

That spake : " Give him to me ! I, Freedom, will 

Avenge thee through the liberty of Texas !'"' 

I heard, I thought, I turned, I came away. 

Has one of you to show a claim like potent 

On Freedom, I will waive my own; for wealth 

And even life cannot compete with it. 

Yet even these I gladly will forego : 

My wealth to those impoverished through this war, 

My life to God, when in the fight I fall. 

All that I feel and am so laid aside, 

I am prepared to join my friends above, 

And soar a happy spirit o'er the land 

I helped to ransom from the tyrant's yoke. 

Houston. 

My heart is turned : I fain resign my right; 
What say, ye, comrades, shall we wait or fight ? 



228 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Generals. 
Lead us to battle, Chief ! 

Houston. 

So be it then ! 
Now go from here, call out your gallant men, 
And lead them on to death or victory: 
" To-day or never ! " let the watchword be ! 

Burleson. 

\Handing his sword to Bradburn^ 
Here, Bradburn ! take my sword ! no better man 
E'er held its hilt in Freedom's battle-van, 

Bradburn. 
Oh, thanks ! my guilt on earth redeemed, forgot. 
So ye, my friends in Heaven, reject me not ! 

YExeunt^ 

Scene V. 

The conquered camp of the Mexicans on the battle-field of 
Saji jfacinto. The back-ground is filled with smoke^ 
amid which soldiers a?'e seen hurrying to and fro. 
The foreground represents a conquered battery^ where 
Bradburn lies stretched on the ground, apparently 
dead. Sam Houston, followed by Burleson, Deaf 
Smith and a Surgeon, enter on the rear of the battery. 
The Surgeon is seen bandaging General Houston's 
wouJided foot, whenever he can do so. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Houston. 

The victory is ours ! on every side 

The enemy are fleeing in dismay, 

Hotly pursued by our brave volunteers. 

But as the night is settling fast and swamps 

Hedge in the enemy beyond escape, 

I deem it wise to end this day's exploits. 

So, Burleson ! go, make this will of mine 

Beknown unto the several commanders, 

That here we'll make our camp-stead for the night, 

Where I await their presence and reports. 

Sweetest a victor sleeps upon the field 

Which heard his shout and saw his gallant deed. 

Come, Smith ; come. Surgeon ! let us choose our seats 
On yonder gun, to bide our friends' return. 

[ T/iey go toward the other side of the stage. ] 
But see, who lies here dead. 'T is Colonel Bradburn ! 
^Houston takes a seat o?i a gun-carriage.^ while the Surgeon 
ba7idages his foot ?^ 

Deaf Smith. 
Yes, General, it is he! Upon this spot 
He fell and died, pierced by a musket-ball. 
When formed our men in line, we took our stand 
Upon the right of Sherman's regiment. 
Advancing silently at the command, 
With every step the Colonel seemed to tower 



230 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Taller and taller, like an airy vision, 

Till when the enemy's cannon oped on us, 

He, with a voice that drowned their mighty roar. 

Called out to Sherman's volunteers : ''''Remember 

The Alamo r'' * As darts the lightning-bolt 

Athwart the air, so flashed this battle-cry 

Through every bosom, and from wing to wing 

The startled breezes bore its thundering echo. 

Awed by this deafening peal the enemy 

With terror broke their ranks; this battery 

Alone sustained its fire against our men. 

They wavered for an instant; wresting then 

The regimental standard from the ensign, 

And waving it with vigor, Colonel Bradburn 

Rushed straight against the cannon's mouth and planted 

The banner on the rampart. So he stood 

In high relief against the smoke-wrapt sky. 

Ere yet our men had scaled the parapet ; 

But when I reached his side, he suddenly 

Sank lifeless to the ground, exclaiming yet : 

"// is achieved : the fight is won — I die ! " 

But see, he moves, he lives, he opes his eyes. 

\I)eaf Smith, kneeling down, bends over Bradburn^ 
Bradburn. 
[ With faint z'oiee.~\ 
Where am I ? 

* The battle-cry of the Texans in the battle of San Jacinto. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 23 I 

Deaf Smith. 
In thy countryman's embrace, 
Who fondly hopes thy life may yet be spared, 

Houston. 
Quick, Surgeon, leave me and attend on him. 
To save his life ! his gallantry deserves it ! 
Sounder the Surgeon's hand, and with the assistance of 
Deaf Smithy Bradhurn revives more and more, so 
that with mnte delight he can manifest his interest in 
the incidents of] 

Scene VII. 
Enter Texan Volunteers, bearing Mexican battle-flags, 
which they present to General Houston. 

A Volunteer. 
Hail, General Houston ! at thy feet we lay 
These flags, the trophies of this glorious day. 

Houston. 
I thank you, friends, in our Republic's name ; 
Her power, her freedom be your prize and fame. 
[ Other volunteers bring Santa Anna's sword, lost by him 
duj'ing his flight ^\ 

A Volunteer. 
Victorious Chief ! we put into thine hand 
This costly falchion, Santa Anna's brand. 



232 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Houston. 
I take it as a pledge, that nevermore 
That foe of Texas will invade her shore, 

\^Other vclunteers bring in Col. Almonte as pf^isojier.'\ 
A Volunteer. 

To thee we bring, made captive on our raid, 
Colonel Almonte, Santa Anna's aid. 

Houston. 
He shall bear witness, that our arms' success 
Is equaled only by our gentleness. 

[^Chee7's in the 7'ear of the stage. Gen. Burleson conies in 
haste.^ followed by Texan volunteers.^ 

Burleson. 
Hail, Chief ! e'en now a gallant volunteer 
Brings Santa Anna self as prisoner here. 

Houston. 

[Rising.\ 
Has been to us that precious hostage given, 
Then Free is Texas ! Thank the Lord in Heaven ! 
^At the a7inounce7nent of the last report B7-adbu7'7i 7nakes 
signs to the Surgeon a7id Deaf S77iith to raise him 
tip. This done, he speaks with ever-rising voice, -ivhile 
the volimteers for77i a se7ni-ci7cle around hi7n.'\ 

Bradburn. 
Yes, thank the Lord ! whose mighty arm has wrought 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 233 

This end sublime, too high for human thought. 

Yes, thank the Lord ! whose love has many more 

And greater blessings still for you in store. 

For mystery's veil now from my eye withdrawn, 

I see this land emerge from Freedom's dawn, 

To broader sway, to greater sphere of might, 

Maintaining it in many a gallant fight. 

With millions I behold her borders filled 

Of freemen, brave, intelligent and skilled, 

Whose industry lays ope her mountains' yields, 

And turns her plains to fertile harvest-fields : 

W^hose energy, as by a magic wand, 

Lets cities rise, where forest-groves now stand, 

Whose handicraft makes ring her sea-girt shore 

And enters far into her bosom's core. 

So, so the youthful State shall grow in power. 

Yet will she reach still higher glory's dower 

When entering in the Union's radiant gates 

She blends her future with her Sister-States. 

All obstacles, all causes of delay, 

That check their progress, moved from out the way, 

Oh, joyous contest, that will then ensue, 

Oh, glorious race before whole Mankind's view : 

When for the highest prizes of humanity 

They lay them out with zeal and energy. 

When fall the richest blessings one by one 

On each and yet on all in unison : 

Strength^ won in constant practice of their powers. 



234 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

Then Wealthy acquired by search of Nature's dowers, 
Then Peace, ensured by their imposing might, 
Then Happiness, their efforts' well-earned right, 
Then Grace and BeaiUy, as they stately-grand 
Approach their goal, joy-flushed and hand in hand, — 
United, yet distinct, none like the rest, 
Yet each in standard equal to the best : 
Oh, heavenly bliss ! e'en with the spirit's eye 

To have beheld this prospect and to die. 

YHe sinlzs lifeless to the ground. The soldiers holding the 
banners let them droop upon him. All stand pro- 
fou?idly moved. The curtain falls. When it rises once 
more in the\ 

Scene VIII. 
William Travis and Elsie, the latter attired as Goddess 
of Victory , are seen standing amid a transfiguring light 
at the head of Bradburn, upofi which Elsie puts a 
laurel-wreath. The soldiers, all of whom have left the 
stage, are overheard singing the following 

HYMN OF VICTORY.* 
I. 

Chorus. 
It is achieved ! the fight is won ! 
And what our doubting hearts begun 
* For the tune of this Hymn see page 252. 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 235 

Upon these fields in years gone by 

Stands wrought before our wondering eye ! 

Solo Voice. 
Such is not due to human hand, 
'T is God, who thus has blest your land ! 
So, like the scent of sacrifice, 
Let ye to Him your thanks arise. 

Other voices.^ 

Praise the Lord ! 

Chorus. 

Praise Him, ye Earth and Sky, 

Praise Him, oh Sea ! 

Glory to God on high : 

Texas is free. 

2. 

Chorus. 

Your merry blasts ye trumpets send 

Throughout the land, from end to end, 

To gladden by your tidings' peal, 

Where throbs a heart for Texas' weal. 

Solo Voice. 

So also let their joyous sound 

Waft over every hero's mound, 

* These voices should be represented as coming from the four 
different points of the compass. 



236 TFIE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 

To tell him how you dearly prize 
His glorious deeds, his sacrifice. 

Other Voices. 

Praise the Lord ! 

Chorus. 

Praise Him, ye Earth and Sky, 

Praise Him, oh Sea ! 
Glory to God on High: 
Texas is free ! 

3- 
Chorus. 

Plenceforth our Texan realm shall be 
A sacred fane of Liberty ; 
No foreign Lord shall evermore 
Wield here his sway, invade her shore. 

Solo Voices. 

So vow upon this holy ground 
A proud, a valiant State to found, 
Where culture dwells, where law is feared, 
Where Truth is honored, God revered. 

Other Voices. 
Praise the Lord ! 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 237 

Chorus. 

Praise Him, ye Earth and Sky, 

Praise Him, oh Sea ! 
Glory to God on high: 
Texas is free ! 

[Curtain.] 



HYMNS 



No. 1. HYMN OF TEXAN LIBEETY. 



Spiritedly. 



Finale of the First Act. 

Composed by the Author. 



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Rise, valiant yeomen, one and all I And take your sword in 



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hand; For hear you not the thrilling call Of freedom thro' the land ? So 



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let her not appeal in vain. But raisr^e e'en here her holy far.e. 



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242 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Solo. 



Chorus. Solo. 



Chorus. Solo 




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Rise, freemen, rise ! (a7^se,) rise,freemen,risel (arise,) rise, freemen 



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Chorus. 



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riscl (a - me,) your watchword be : For Tex - as and lier 




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er - ty, For Tex - as and her lib - cr - ty. 

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Ho. 2. COL. CEOCKETT'S SONG. 

After a German Air, 



Song. 



Born 



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Piano, 



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HYMNS. 



243 



^^=Y^-==f=- n 


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in the wilds of 


Ten-nes - see, With Indians round a- 


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bout, This child was reared, and grew to be A 



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244 



THE FALL OF TLLE ALAMO. 



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cat - a-mount, And dragged the panther from his haunt ; And 



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grap - pled with the lynx and bear, And scaled the ea - gle's 



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cliff-built lair : And thus it came that with his name Was 



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HYMNS. 



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w-^-\ — f- — 1 — 1 — 

blent a dar - ing 


hunt- er's fame ; And 


hus ii came that 


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with his name Was blent a dar - ing hunt-er's fame. 



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NO. 3. HYMN OF THE LONE STAH FLAG. 



Finale of the Second. Act. 



Alia Marcia. 
P; . . . 



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DvTiposed by the Author. 

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There was a band wan and for-lorn, By cea?e-less toil and 






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1— --1 — 1 — I — r 



246 



THE FALL OF TLLE ALAMO. 



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watching worn, Cut off from friends, from homes, from world, With 



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Baritone Solo. 



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No hope was theirs of 

Humming Voices. 



shot and shell up - on them hurled. 



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aid or flight, Death front-ed ev - 'ry-where their sight; But 



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HYMNS. 



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sempre cresc. 




faltered they ? No! no! instead They flung this banner overhead 



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Chorus. 



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Flag of the Lone Star! thou glorious sign! Where is the banner that 






ri - vals with thine? Baptized in heroes' blood,by martyrs unfurled, 



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Flag of the Lone Sta-I Ihoa pride of the world 1 

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248 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



NO. 4. PHAYEH BEFOUE BATTLE. 



Lento. 



Music by W. GREEF. 
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Forsake me not 1 when shadows lie around me, When night and dai-kness 







everywhere hold bound me : When per - il's gloom has fall - en 



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When peril's gloom 



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to my lot: Thou Fount of Light ! for - sake me not. 

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No. 5. THE ANTHEM OF THE ALAMO. 



With Energy. 



Finale of the Third Act. 

Composed by th? Author. 



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When o'er our land the war-cloud drew. And loud-ly Freedom's 

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HYMNS. 



249 



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trum - pet blew, We rushed to arms, re - solved to be 

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cit - a - del 'gainst ty-ran-nj-. Hence fear thee not, dear Tex - an 



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Land, Thy safe-ty lies in trusty hand; For firm will stand 'gainst 

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ev-ery foe Thy vanguard at the A - la - mo ; For firm will 

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stand 'gainst ev - ery foe Thy vanguard at the A - la - mo. 

* T^^ ^ — ^ ' — I — ^- — ^—^^ 



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250 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



No. 6. MEXICAN BATTLE-MARCH.* 



pp 



WM 



Finale of the Fourth Act. 

Composed by the Author. 

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Drums. 



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* The first two parts of this March, end in? at the Trio, should be re- 
peated over and over acjain, until the time when the Texan patriots are 
ready to join into the Trio by singing their Hymn. 



HYMNS. 



251 



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Tviio.—Song of tM Texan Patriots. 



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Rise, comrades, see 1 the heav'ns a-doni 



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Continuation of the Mexican March. 




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I 



252 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



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gates with ra-diant charms ; To welcome you when thither 



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borne 






In Freedom's fond - ling arms 



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HYMNS. 



253 




e-C*- 






to a-bide in bliss and grace While live your names in song and 






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Chorus. Travis. 



^ — tP >— t- — *— *-- 



(fl-nse) (a-ri^e) 

praise. So, comrades, rise ! Rise, comrades, rise ! Rise, comrades, 
(,a-r%se^ {a-rise) 






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254 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



I Chorus. 



|s ^ j^ • ^^^'P^^ff 



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rise ! A - rise ! our last breath be : For Tex - as and her 



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-^■=^1 



ip?= -j r- -g^ — r- 



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Lib - er - ty : For Tex - as and her Lib - er - ty. 



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111 



After a momentary lull, during which the destruction of tTie 
place, and while the curtain is falling, the last part of the March 
by the>band alone. 



takes 
played 



HYMNS. 



255 




No. 7. HYMN or VICTORY. 



Finale of the Epilogue. 
Chorus. Composed by the Author. 



m 



S=L-j 1 — I — ] d 



1- 

It is a - chieved ; the fiirht is won ; And 

Up - on these fields in years gone by, Stands 



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w^mm. 



256 



THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 



Solo, 
Such is not due to 



fe*: 



gEEfcS=E3^?ffiEI6fe^: 



what our doubt-ing hearts "be - gun, ) ptawo 
wrought be-fore our won - d'ring eye. j 



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hu - man hand ; 'Tis God who thus hath bless'd your land 1 So 



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like the smoke of sac - ri-fice, Let ye to Him your thanks arise. 
^ A I I ritard. tr ^^ 

J Mt . ^1 1— J-r.-J- 



cresc. 



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i* 



:3=*: 






^ 



1 ritard. I 



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SiNGLK Voices, cresc. 







Praise the Lord ! Praise the Lordl Praise the Lord! Praise the Lordj 

-b 1^! i^:^-^-, \ ^^— 1 — , — K — ^^ — 1 — — N , j > |— 



p ^ f^ ^ ' ff accelerando. 



HYMNS. 



257 



Chorus. ^^^ 

-t— f* 



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^ 






I 



-| — |— tr 



-I 1- 

Praise the Lord ! Prai?e Him, ye earth aud sky ! Praise Him, oh 



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Trumpets. 
Glo - ry to God on high ! Texas is free ! 



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fffmoltontard. 


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' 


Tex - as Is 

1 !•■ F 


free ! 

3- 


1 


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-g^ igri=ig:^-: 


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L J 1 1 1 







fffmolto ritard. 



THE END, 






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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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